The Not-So-Unexpected Journey
by TheStarfish
Summary: Part One of Three in Tara's Tale; Tara Wyatt used to be a normal girl. Then she began having visions - then she woke up in Rivendell. And now she has to live as an esteemed Seeress in a world she knows too well for her own good. And when she forces herself on the journey of Thorin Oakenshield and Bilbo Baggins, how will things go? Pairing still undecided - I'll leave it to you guys
1. An Appointed Role

_My dear Frodo._

_I know you will meet her one day. That woman I met during my adventures. You mustn't doubt her when you do. She is a good woman, one of the finest I have ever met. Had things gone differently, I might not have ended up as a single old man in a hole._

_Her name is Tara. And before you can understand exactly how special she is – I need to tell you everything. Now, mind you, all of this I have heard from Tara herself. So if it sounds strange, then pay no mind – you can ask her when you meet her._

_It all began quite simply; Once upon a time, she saw a hobbit in a hole._

* * *

"I'm SO sleepy!" a loud yawning voice exclaimed. A pair of blue eyes blinked rapidly, trying to stay awake to watch the last part of "The Fellowship of the Ring". She had decided to watch all three 'Lord of the Rings'-movies this weekend; but due to a rather unfortunate, and previously unknown, history report... She had started off a little late.

A few knocks on her wall made young Tara Wyatt jump out of the skin, and she glared at the incredibly thin excuse for a wall; which was currently being molested by her younger brother, Dawson. Who had ever inspired that brat to bother his beloved older sister at this late hour!? Tara quickly banged her own hand against the door, and she heard the unmistakable 'EEP' that Dawson exclaimed. Tara laughed manically - without sound, mind you – as she returned to her movie.

And as she saw Frodo rescue the drowning Sam into the boat, she wondered to herself. What was the time? She slowly refocused her eyes from the television to her digital clock, which read... 02:13? No wonder she was tired. She yawned once more, as she used the Start-button on her joypad for the PlayStation 3 to pause the DVD.

"Well, might as well get ready for bed. I doubt I'll do it after the movie," she pointed out for herself, as she slowly exited the comfort of her bed. She winced as her bare feet touched the unreasonably cold wooden floor beneath her. _THIS_ was the problem with getting out of bed! If only ALL rooms had floor heating, then all schools would notice a HUGE attendance rise, she was sure of it.

As she proceeded to the bathroom, pulling up her ridiculously large pajamas pants from falling down to her knees every few seconds, she practically ran into her stepdad; Allan Long. He was half Chinese, and nice enough and all, but he was no dad. But the man smiled at the sight of her.

"Hey Tara. You not sleeping yet?" he asked with a grin, and Tara smiled back; shrugging.

"Naah. But are you surprised? You've caught me snooping around at night often enough," she pointed out, and Allan laughed as Tara walked to the bathroom door.

"True. At least this time you're not raiding your mom's liquor cabinet," Allan said with a wink. Tara wrinkled her nose.

"One-time-occurrence only! Besides, why are you already home? Don't you work late the first weekend every month?" she asked. Allan was a night worker at a construction site in Downtown. Usually, he worked to about 4 a.m the two nights in the first weekend of every month.

"I was given leave early because Dawson's birthday is tomorrow," Allan said with a relieved sigh, and Tara whistled quietly.

"Amazing your boss allowed you. He didn't even do that for CHRISTMAS!" Tara pointed out with a raised eyebrow. Allan hadn't been very amusing company when he had only slept three hours before Christmas Eve, having to participate in a rather large Christmas party, and then having to go to work again ten o'clock. Allan groaned at the memory.

"Don't remind me. But I think Mr. Stykes knows he's worked me too much these past few months, so he's trying to limit my pay for next month to make up for it." Tara giggled, nodding. Sounded like him.

"Well, get some shuteye, Allan. Dawson will probably be awaiting his breakfast-on-the-bed from you and Mom _very_ early tomorrow morning," Tara reminded him, and Allan sighed deeply.

"Ah yes... Well, good night. Remember to sleep yourself," he said with a smile, tentatively rubbing Tara's head for a bit, before moving to the end of the hallway, to the bedroom he shared with Tara's mom.

After a quick brushing of the teeth, Tara moved back into the room. She stood in front of her closed door for a second, contemplating on her own. What should she do, hmm? She looked at the TV. Should she continue watching the movies? She looked at her collection of games. Should she _try_ to complete Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, so she could move on to the recent additions to the series? Or should she, she thought as she looked to her bed; be sensible and go to bed?

And as always, logic didn't win with Tara. So she quickly sat down in her bed, pulling the duvet closely around her and the pillow held into herself, as she joyfully started the movie again.

But not much time passed, of course; before Tara dozed off to sleep. A very deep sleep.

_/ The Not-So-Unexpected Journey: Chapter 1 _\\

_She was falling. Falling deeper and deeper. The air around her was like water, suffocating her and squeezing her together. It hurt. Her body ached._

_Pitch black darkness. A slow glow started to resonate around her. She liked the glow. It was kinder than the darkness. The glow intensified to the point where it hurt her eyes. It wasn't a comfortable glow anymore. It was like a burning fire, an inferno._

_She turned around and screamed. The Eye._

* * *

Tara jumped up from her bed, the cold fear dripping off her body in sweat. What? She put her hands onto her face; feeling the heat and dampness. What a horrible nightmare. But hadn't she seen the Fiery Eye somewhere before?

She groaned, hitting her forehead several times in frustration. Why couldn't she remember!? She was _sure_ she'd seen it before!

"There is no reason to harm yourself. You were barely alive when we found you."

Tara slowly opened her eyes; removing her hands from her face. It was not until this very moment, that Tara realized she was not in her own room anymore. Her own room could never look so beautiful. The walls were the purest white, so white it almost looked like it glowed in the sunlight. Her bed was soft and the sheets felt like water against her skin. And the man who had entered, she knew. But not from home.

"Lord Elrond," she muttered, looking at the Elf in disbelief. She couldn't believe this. Was this some sort of practical joke? But everything looked so... Real! The man nodded, looking back towards the archway through which he had entered the room.

He spoke something in Elvish, which of course Tara did not understand. But just one word she did understand.

_Arwen_.

And as the most beautiful woman she had ever seen entered the room, Tara felt her eyes bulge out of her eyesockets. Elves were supposed to be beautiful, granted, but _this_ was crazy! Arwen smiled at her, baffling Tara further.

"I am glad you are well, Milady. When our scouts returned with you, we thought you were beyond help," Arwen said with a kind voice, and Tara blinked, confused. She slowly removed the duvet from her body, seeing that she was clad in one of the white Elven robes. She slowly got out of bed, marveling at the fact that the stone floors of the room were warmer than her wooden ones at home.

"What happened?" she asked cautiously, looking at her hands. It hurt to move. She felt stiff... How long had she slept?

"Our scouts returned with you. Your entire body was in horrible shape; broken bones and bruises everywhere. It has been a week since then," Elrond got her up to speed, and Tara blinked, confused. Broken bones? Bruises? She didn't remember anything like that. She fell asleep yesterday, in her room, and here she was.

She remembered… Falling, falling through water. And... The Great Eye of Sauron!

Tara jumped in exasperation, startling the two Elves.

"I know where I am! Rivendell! Elf-city!"

* * *

It was hard to process. _Rivendell_.

First off, how did she get there? The Elves couldn't help her – they just said they had found her, broken on the ground, a few miles west of their territory. It had been as though she had fallen out of a tower, apparently, so she assumed that she had fallen onto Middle Earth in her sleep. Ouch...

She was still human, no pointy ears, but the Elves seemed to think something was special about her. Apparently, she had rambled off some things during sleep, which they saw as an omen. Well, a dream of the Eye of Sauron was reason enough to be cautious, she assumed.

For now, Tara was wandering around in Rivendell. Everywhere she went, she saw Elves following her with their bright eyes, some of them beginning to whisper of her when they saw her. It was unnerving; Tara felt out of place already. Her hair, dyed a very strong red, was very uncommon in an Elf-city, not to mention Middle Earth in total. The science of dying your hair an artificial color hadn't reached Middle Earth yet, so they all thought her hair was as red as blood by nature. Unnerving for them, she supposed.

Her only real company was Arwen and Elrond. The rest seemed too suspicious to approach her. After having walked through the beautiful city for a good while, she sat down on one of the white benches near a large, beautiful fountain, and she sighed. Her hair was brushed meticulously, something she suspected Arwen of, and her body was clad in the same white dress she had awoken in. It might only be intended as a nightgown, but it was too beautiful all the same. It was simple, a bit tight around the right places, but also so comfortable. Her feet were bare; she wasn't cold though.

She sighed deeply, once more, shaking her head in the meantime.

"I'm not sure about all this."

A small sound indicated Tara had company, and she looked up. In front of her stood a female Elf, as fair as can be, and with a cautious smile on her face. She had a similar white gown draped on her body as Tara, and her hair was held into a fancy assortment of braids by silver strings.

"Please excuse me, but you seemed lonely," the woman said with a smile, and Tara smiled back. Damn Elves and their contagious smiles.

"I am, just a bit. I feel out of place, and yet I have nowhere else to be." That was perhaps the worst part of it. She had no idea how to get back home. She was certain she had done nothing to be thrown here of all place, so why had it been done? Some stupid Magic User with a sick humor?

"Have you no home?"

Tara shook her head.

"I do, somewhere. But I don't know how to get back there, or how I came to be here in the first place."

"I see. What are you-"

* * *

_Erebor._

_The Kingdom Under the Mountain._

_Evil is coming; Smaug, Azog, Gollum, Saruman, SAURON._

_The One Ring – It will not wait much longer._

_Mithrandir is setting out. The shadow is coming._

* * *

Her eyes fluttered open. She felt drained and so, so tired. She groaned loudly, reaching up to her head. But before she could reach it – and somehow get ahold of this nasty headache – a cold hand grabbed hers, pulling it to them.

"Are you awake, mylady?"

Tara looked to her right. It was the elven woman who had sat next to her. The moonlight illuminated her, making her have an almost luminescent aura of divinity. Wait a sec - Tara's eyes widened - moonlight!?

She sat up straight so fast, you would think some supernatural force had forced her up. She surprised the Elf next to her, and her headache caused her to swear.

"I'm awake" she groaned, and the Elf nodded.

"So I see."

Tara smiled humorlessly, and looked at the Elf once more. She seemed nervous – shaken. Had she said something in her sleep again? She had to ask.

"Did I... Say something?" she asked, and the Elf shuddered.

"You spoke of great Evil, mylady. That it would not wait any longer. _You mentioned he whose name we all fear_."

Tara nodded. That's what she thought. She looked back at the Elf. She seemed worried, frightened and so many other uncomfortable things at the same time. Tara felt bad for her, but she couldn't really tell her the truth. Not until she was sure about what was going on. Tara had read a LOT of fanfiction concerning her current situation, and _every single one_ stressed the importance of feigning ignorance to what was going to happen to the people inside the world.

"I know. Can you do me a favor and get Lord Elrond? I should talk to him," she whispered, and the Elf quickly left her bedside. Tara could only imagine what it would do to a being of Middle Earth for a complete stranger to say Sauron's name in their sleep.

Tara sighed, swinging her legs over the side of her bed, trying to get her head sorted out. Too many thoughts were running through it for her to be sane – clips and bits of the movies, and some _not_ from the movies – some things she shouldn't know. She couldn't quite gather what had happened.

"You asked for me."

Tara looked up, seeing Elrond enter her room. She nodded, sighing slightly at the sight. She had to explain it to him, in a way he would be able to understand.

"Dieena told me, you mentioned evils in your sleep." Elrond approached the topic before her; he had seated himself on a fine wooden chair next to her bed, and she nodded.

"I do. I... I cannot tell you how, but I _know_ things. Before I know how much I can tell you, I must ask; has a Hobbit ever come through Rivendell in your time?"

Elrond seemed surprised at this question. Hobbits were a folk not many knew; they had not left Shire for many years. Elrond had never actually seen one in person, and Tara nodded at this. That meant that Bilbo hadn't even been through Rivendell yet. So then, she was in Rivendell even before the events of The Hobbit? That severely limited what she could tell Elrond.

"Well, I have seen a time where Hobbits will come through Rivendell. Where the fate of entire countries rests on the shoulders of Hobbits. And I have seen the past; I have seen your battle with Sauron, how you urged Isildur to throw the One Ring into the fires of Mount Doom, and how the strength of Men failed."

As you can imagine, this led to a very long night. Elrond tried to ask Tara for as many informations as possible, and Tara came to use one of the oldest excuses in the kind of fanfics that described her current predicament; "If I tell you, the future will be changed. And perhaps not for the better."

Elrond paced back and forth in the room, trying to make sense of what little Tara had told him.

"So you say, you see the future in these dreams you have?"

Tara nodded.

"Yes."

"So you are familiar with Magic?"

This time, it was a shake of the head.

"No. I can't explain why, but for as long as I can remember, I have had the knowledge of this world's future in my head."

It was a satisfactory explanation, no? Elrond seemed even more thoughtful.

"I have not seen a Seer among Man for many years," he thought aloud, and Tara smiled, shrugging. She herself was wondering about something else entirely – a vision she had seen earlier, of Erebor. It had been of a time of peace and prosperity, and visions of Dwarven Kings from ages past. Something she should not have seen, they weren't memories from the movies. Were they real visions? Had the transition to Middle Earth changed her in some way, besides breaking her body?

Elrond broke her concentration, when he put his hand upon hers, which were folded in her lap. She looked up at his face. He was smiling. She smiled back.

"Have you any control of these visions of yours?"

"No, unfortunately. If I had, I wouldn't have chosen to have them while talking to the Elf woman from before. I imagine I scared her quite a bit," Tara said with a small apologetic nod. Elrond nodded.

"She was panicked, to say the least. But back to your visions, can you in any way control what you see?"

Again, Tara had to say no.

"I haven't fainted from visions before. Usually they just came to me without me noticing," she tried to explain. She assumed that was the best way to describe watching a movie. She hadn't imagined she would actually need it for something.

Elrond nodded again - he did that often that night - thinking to himself. After a little while, she seemed to return from within his mind, and she smiled at her.

"We shall talk more of it tomorrow, mylady. For now, you should have some sleep, which is not provoked by visions or intense pain, or both," he said with a smile. Tara giggled and nodded.

"As you say."

Before Elrond completely exited the room, she called for him. And as he turned around, she smiled.

"My name is Tara, by the way. Tara Wyatt."

* * *

_And this was how she became Seeress Tara Wyatt._


	2. Learning and Teaching

Tara sighed, as she woke up for the third time since arriving on Middle Earth. Her initial hopes that she would wake up in her own bed, possibly much too late as proper on her brother's birthday, were gone. This was too vivid a dream on any part.

She slowly got up from the bed, deciding that she should, probably, change out of the nightgown she had been wearing since she woke up the first time. This caused her to look properly around the room, now that she had a calm moment to really take it in. It was a simple room, with a bed, night tables and a dresser. Upon the two small tables were assortments of candles, though she didn't see the purpose of it. The room wasn't really a 'room', as the walls weren't exactly solid stone. It was like silver branches, folding amongst each other to create pillars to keep the roof up, but otherwise, it was freely accessible.

Not that Tara minded horribly – she didn't feel like having the privacy needed to think about her current situation. She was certain she'd break down as soon as that line of thought would enter her mind. She decided that, until further notice, she would treat this as if she was in one of those silly scenarios she so often invented in her head. And not until she had gotten more evidence, would she consider why she was in Rivendell.

She slowly opened the beige dresser, looking at the assortment of clothes in it. Elves apparently didn't do clothes in any shades darker than the silky blue most of their warrior capes were in, and as such, she found herself changing into yet _another_ white dress, yet much fancier. She wasn't entirely happy at the fact that she had no bras. When she had fallen onto Middle Earth, she had, after all, been in her pajamas, and she certainly didn't sleep with that particular article on.

She wrinkled her nose.

"I don't have any shampoo, toothbrush or new undergarments with me..."

The list of everyday necessities, that didn't really occur to be important before you were lacking, was rather long. And then she also had the gruesome revelation that she couldn't have any of her entertainment either. Her PS3! Her laptop!

Well, one can be vain just to cheer oneself up, right? Tara smiled, chuckling slightly at the weird situation she was in.

"What do I need a PS for? I am in _Rivendell_. There has got to be something exciting to do here. I'll go and talk to Elrond about it, I should think," she said to herself, setting off to find her host.

_Lord Elrond had a very clear idea of entertainment for the young Seeress. Tara began learning of Middle Earth through the finest teachers in the world – the Elves of Rivendell._

_They taught her history, herbalism and astrology. They taught her mythology and meditation. They taught her the way of the sword, and how to ride the fastest steeds in all of Middle Earth._

_Days turned to weeks. Weeks turned to months. And Tara discovered she had an affinity for Magic. And Gandalf, yes Frodo, Gandalf himself came to teach her._

"Seeress!" a woman called, and Tara looked up from the book she was reading. It was a sort of encyclopedia, listing all the known herbs of Middle Earth and their properties. Herbalism was, perhaps, one of her most useful subjects, but also the most tedious. How many times she had brewed a Rejuvenation potion, she couldn't count.

She sat in the library of Rivendell, a place you could count she'd be in often. And in ran that very same Elven woman who had cared for her during her first visions. Dieena had become one of Tara's closest friends, and she was a sort of caretaker for her. Tara had visions frequently, though she didn't pass out every time they came. She mostly just became very dizzy, and needed someone to look after her. This was why Dieena spent nearly every waking minute with Tara.

"What is it, Dieena?"

Dieena had to stop once she caught sight of Tara. Every time Dieena took her eyes away from her, it would seem as though her hair was forgotten in her mind. She forgot just how wonderful a color it was, and it stunned her every time she saw it anew. Tara's pale skin, bright blue eyes and blood red hair created a contrast to the white dress Tara usually donned, and she was beautiful. The few _Dunedain_ who travelled through Rivendell once in a while had mistaken her for an Elf on more than one occasion. It had been a rather amusing encounter.

"Dieena?"

The Elf was ripped out of her thoughts as Tara stood up, smiling. She knew exactly what went through her caretaker's head. She, personally, thought the whole incident of being mistaken for an Elf was thanks to the dresses the Elves had given her. They were beautiful, and their beauty seemed to be contagious, fooling others to think so of Tara as well. Tara would admit she was fond of her looks, they were attractive at least, but as beautiful as an Elf? She thought not.

"Ah, yes! _Mithrandir_ has crossed the river! He will be here soon!"

She didn't have to say much more – Tara was already charging down the stairs from the library, and Dieena had to take a moment to realize she was gone. Then she gasped, turned around and charged after her.

"Tara! Wait for me!"

Tara had gotten the habit of constantly wearing one of the elves' silver cloaks with hood, because most strangers who saw her hair would space out. So as she pulled up the hood to hide her hair, she descended the stairs leading to the plaza upon which Gandalf was conversing with Elrond. She took two steps at a time, a silly smile on her face.

"Lord Elrond, I'm here."

Elrond looked up, startled at seeing her there so quickly. But when he saw Dieena behind her, he knew who had told her, and he chuckled. He put a hand on Gandalf's shoulder, making a gesture towards Tara.

"_Mithrandir_, this is the young woman I told you of. Tara, this is-"

"I know."

Elrond smiled, as Gandalf bowed to the woman. Tara blushed slightly, curtsying the wizard.

"It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Gandalf the Grey. Meeting you in person is much different than merely seeing visions of you," she admitted. Gandalf looked at her eyes with a spark of curiosity in his own.

"Ah, yes, I had heard from Lord Elrond of these visions of yours."

Tara sent Elrond a quick glance; how much had he told Gandalf? It concerned her. Elrond had, of course, told Gandalf _everything_. Every. Damn. Thing.

That's why, as soon as Gandalf and Tara sat in the library alone, a series of Q&A ensued.

"Where do you come from?" "Britain."

"Is it on Middle Earth?" "I very much doubt it."

"Have you any idea how you came here?" "No."

"How much do you know of Middle Earth's future?" "A lot."

"Will you tell anyone?" "Most certainly not."

And so it continued. Tara couldn't tell how long she had answered Gandalf's endless questions, until he – finally - seemed satisfied.

And then hell began.

_Of course, this was just Tara exaggerating. In reality, she loved every minute of it. Gandalf had taken it upon himself to help Tara through all the magic running through her. She began in the smalls. She learned to write runes, to speak Elvish and Dwarvish. She learned to listen to the wind, to call upon the elements. She slept like a log every night, she was so tired._

_But most importantly – Gandalf was there. He helped her through her visions. Every time she got them, he was there to help her. He taught her to take them out of her head, and visualize them in the room. She once told me, that one time where she had had a vision of a dragon, it had caused a huge commotion in Rivendell, when it manifested itself in the skies above._

_Apparently, this got both her and Gandalf in trouble with Elrond. She got grounded, and Gandalf was scolded for teaching her something that could disturb the peace so. Gandalf and Tara would laugh at it whenever they were alone. Then, one day, Gandalf had a surprise for her._

"We're going on a trip!?" she exclaimed with glee. Gandalf had to laugh at her excitement. Through the few weeks he had been with the human girl, he had seen one very endearing trait about her – her sense for adventure. More than once, he would see her go to the top of Lord Elrond's observatory, looking out upon the small parts of the wilderness she could see beyond the valley's walls.

She was, after all, a human. She needed to get out more often, meet people, and not just sit and revel in the knowledge she had. Gandalf had always liked people like her – active, taking an initiative.

"Where are we going, Gandalf?" she asked, following him with a small skip in her step. Tara had begun to care deeply for Gandalf – far beyond the emotion of admiration she had from knowing him from the movies. He was a teacher, and a dear friend. Meeting the characters in person really did do something different than just watching them on a screen, or dreams for that matter. The old wizard chuckled.

"You mentioned wanting to go to Greenwood, did you not?"

Tara was about ready to swoon. _Swoon_. GREENWOOD! It meant people! Her mouth began running off, to Gandalf's great dismay.

"Greenwood, Gandalf! I have wanted to see that place for so long! I want to see the Elven cities in there! Can we meet Lord Thranduil and Prince Legolas? I am so very curious about them, and I have always wondered if Thranduil is only a prick in my visions, or if he's as big an idiot near his own kin! And Radagast! Oh _please_, can we see Radagast!? He can even help me with the Herbalism homework! ... You're not listening at all, are you? Oh, _Gandalf_, you never listen to a word I say!"

Tara said this with an annoyed look on her face, and Gandalf looked at her, worried.

"Why, of course I don't! How can I listen to every word you say, when you say so many, hm?"

Tara stared at his shape, as he continued walking, whereas she had stopped in her tracks. She puffed up her cheeks, putting her hands on her haps. Incredulous old fool!

"You're _insufferable_!"

Gandalf chuckled once more, as Tara caught up with him.

When the duo came down the stairs towards the main plaza, they saw five Elves waiting for them. Dieena was there, of course, as was Lord Elrond and Arwen. And then there were two, unknown to Tara, who held two horses. One was Tara's favored steed, a chocolate brown stallion she had named Dawson, in remembrance of her brother. The brown color of its mane was the same as Dawson's. The other was a grey horse, probably the one Gandalf had arrived on.

Tara didn't wait a second before swinging herself onto the back of Dawson, and the horse reacted by shifting itself a bit, trying to get used to the extra weight. Tara petted it on the side of its neck with a smile, as she looked at the Elves looking at her.

"Be careful, Tara," Arwen said with a kind smile, and Tara giggled at the worry she could see in those grey eyes. Those Elves cared for her, a lot, and so did she care for them, but they shouldn't worry too much.

"What could happen when I'm with Gandalf, hm?" she pointed out, winking at them. They didn't seem comforted, so she smiled kindly, growing serious. "Don't worry. I'm not a helpless girl anymore, you've seen to that. I would like to see someone overcome the mighty _Mithrandir _and the Seeress of Rivendell."

This seemed to, at the very least, calm Elrond. He would see to it that Dieena and Arwen wouldn't be too worried while she was away. Lord Elrond approached her, reaching a sword up to her. It was a rapier, Elven made.

"_Sana sina. Vara tel_' _Seldarine ar' Ama poldora a' lle._"

Tara beamed.

"I understood that!" As she took the rapier and fastened it in the belt around her waist, Elrond laughed at her pride. Dieena was looking at Tara with sadness. This would be the first time Tara left Rivendell since she arrived; Dieena couldn't keep an eye at her. It unsettled her. Tara could see this quite clearly, and she smiled.

"Look after everything for me, will you Dieena? I'd prefer to return to a properly kept room," she teased, and Dieena couldn't help but giggle at this. She nodded, though her face was still clouded by anxiety and worry.

Tara pulled the hood on her cloak up, shielding her red hair from the sun, which played with it and created vibrant shows in its depths. She glanced around Rivendell one last time, while Gandalf promised Elrond to take care of her, and then they were off.

"_Tenna' ento lye omenta._"

This whisper reached her as she left her new home, and it made tears spring up in her eyes. They broke into gallop as soon as they reached the final stretch of valley, and though she felt the need to look behind her, she decided that she would delay seeing Rivendell again until she returned; as an incentive to come back. Looking back before setting out always felt final to her. And so, they were on their way.

_Now, Frodo, you must understand that Tara had longed to see the rest of Middle Earth for almost a year at that time. So when Gandalf will tell you what horrible company Tara was on that journey, bear in mind that this was because she rode ahead of him, never quite being able to keep a reasonable pace._

_She told me the air tasted differently in the wilderness, that she felt alive for the first time since coming to Middle Earth. She loved Rivendell, it was the closest she had to home in a strange new place, but she was a human. She couldn't just sit still in one place forever._

_When they reached the Greenwood, Tara was given the lead. And the first place she went, was the residence of Radagast the Brown._

As the pair approached the strange hut in the tree, they could hear mumbling inside. Gandalf was smiling widely, obviously quite excited about Tara's reaction to his cousin. Tara herself was just as eager – she had always enjoyed Radagast's character, and meeting the actual person was going to be amusing.

"How much do you know of Radagast, Tara?" She looked at Gandalf, who halted his horse next to her, already in the process of de-mounting. Tara followed his example, as she hummed.

"Not much – he is an Istar as you, prefers the company of animals and plants, and Saruman thinks him a fool. Then again, I am not in favor of Saruman, so I might find Radagast wise none the same."

Gandalf had found himself astounded by the knowledge of the Seer. That she knew, in such detail, the workings of the world, even the most safeguarded secrets, was frightening. But she was a kind woman, and Gandalf had already implored her to keep her knowledge to herself. Something he found she had been intent on all along, except when he would ask her.

Before they got close enough to the hut to knock, the door was thrown open, and an elderly person in brown robes - and what smelled conspicuously like bird droppings in his hair – barged out. He fell down in front of the two, and Tara smiled.

"Radagast the Brown, I assume?" she giggled, squatting down in front of him. He slowly lifted his head, looking up at her with brown eyes. And his face was slowly broken into two by a smile, showing yellowed teeth.

"Gandalf! How long it's been! And a charming young lady to boot. Hello!"

He slowly gathered himself up from the ground, Tara helping him stand properly. He blinked at the contact, and began staring into Tara's eyes. She smiled at him, as he slowly scooted closer to Gandalf.

"_She is not of this world._" This was whispered, but Tara could hear it none the less. He smiled and nodded.

"Nice perception, Radagast. Or should I call you Aiwendil?"

The mention of his real name made Radagast jump, and his eyes widen. Gandalf was chuckling. The excitement! He knew he would enjoy Tara meeting his cousin. He played with the idea of introducing her to Saruman, while Radagast put Tara through almost the _exact_ same questionnaire Gandalf had put her through. Tara was glad she didn't plan on meeting any more of the Istar, it was becoming tedious to answer so many questions.

Radagast was particularly intrigued by her mention of Elvish Herbalism, as she knew he would, when he asked what she was doing with her time on Middle Earth. He put an arm around Tara's shoulder, having warmed up to her quite quickly, and he led her into his hut. Gandalf followed, chuckling at the sight.

_Radagast began teaching Tara as well, and not just about the Herbalism. He taught her to change shapes, though he stressed the dangers, and he taught her to spur growth. He taught her the ancient language of the Ents, how to recognize an Ent from a normal tree and how to cleanse dark magic. And in turn, she told her of her visions and her world. She told him of the parks and woods of Britain, and how most forest were no longer wild, but rather meticulously planned._

_Gandalf and Tara spent 24 days together with Radagast, within which Tara grew very fond of the scatter-brained wizard. When it was time for them to leave, Radagast gifted her a small bracelet of bloodoak with ancient runes inscribed into it. He also promised her that he would craft an amplifier for her, similar to the Istar's staves, but not identical._

_Tara once told me that she looked forward to it even more than meeting me. This was, apparently, one of her greatest joys. I'm sure she'll look forward to meeting you too, Frodo. She often spoke of the future generations; she said one of her favorite Dwarves had not been born yet, but his father was somewhere amongst me and my friends. But that is for another time._

_After leaving Radagast's cabin, Tara had but one more place she insisted to visit before they returned to Rivendell. She wanted to see the Elven Kingdom of Greenwood, domain of Elf King Thranduil and his son, Prince Legolas._

"They know we're here, I bet," Tara muttered under her breath, and Gandalf looked around him in a wary fashion.

"Of course they do. They must not think us hostile if they haven't chosen to attack by now." Tara giggled. She couldn't imagine the two of them seemed particularly hostile to the Elves. A young woman, clad in Elven clothes, and an aging grey man.

"Have you been to Greenwood's Elves before?"

Gandalf nodded.

"On a number of occasions, yes, but I've never stayed for too long. Thranduil prefers to keep his people out of the problems of the surrounding world, so I am never as welcome as I am in Rivendell," he commented, and Tara laughed.

"I look forward to seeing his reaction when you bring a human Seeress into his midst then," she teased, making Gandalf grumble. She could make jokes now, but the reality was that the Elven king would, probably, be far from happy about their visit. He could only hope that Tara's charm, which had swayed both Lord Elrond and Radagast, would work its magic on either Thranduil or his son.

The further into the forest the two rode, the clearer it became that they were following a road. It had been concealed in some way, and Tara could only guess that there was some kind of protection around the area. Whether this was magical in nature or not remained to be seen.

It wasn't until Dawson made a quiet sound she discovered two elves had emerged from the forest. They had grabbed the reigns to both horses and walked next to them, guiding them in the right direction. They had fair blonde hair, pointy ears, and the outfits of some sort of Guard. She assumed they were scouts, posted in the forest to keep an eye out for intruders or visitors, not necessarily always different things.

And as the Elves led their horses, it was as if the road changed entirely. From being little more than a line of downtrodden plants, it branched out, becoming a clear passage through the vegetation. She would bet all the gold in all of the seven Dwarven Kingdoms that they would never have found their way, if not the Elves had led them to the right place.

They emerged into a large clearing, illuminated by the light coming from the silver buildings in the trees. The buildings themselves were as plants, perfectly balanced amongst the trees, and as the Elf who held Dawson helped Tara down from him, she was certain she could see more than fifty pairs of fair eyes gazing down upon them from the trees. She walked forward, ignoring Gandalf's annoyed mumblings when the Elf holding his horse tried to help Gandalf himself down.

"It's beautiful," she whispered, twirling around herself. The hood fell down from her head, and her bloodred hair caused a stir to go through the trees themselves. She stopped twirling when she realized someone was descending the stairs from the tree directly in front of her, and she blinked when she saw who. Two men, both beyond beautiful. She assumed that the one with the bigger crown was Thranduil, partly because she knew for a fact that the other was Legolas.

Gandalf soon joined her, standing next to her, and bowed for the Elven king. Tara also curtsied, and the two Elves also bowed, although Thranduil nodded more than bowed.

"Welcome to Greenwood, _Mithrandir_. And your companion?"

"Ah, she is-"

"_Amin naa Tara, Heruanmin Thranduil. Saesa omentien lle._" The King smiled graciously at her words. She had expected that she would receive at least a little respect if she spoke Elvish, rather than the common tongue.

"You speak Elvish?" he asked, sensing that Tara wasn't exactly fluent in his language.

"Lord Elrond taught me," she explained. "I am a Seeress from Rivendell."

Murmurs travelled in the treetops, and Legolas was the one to voice the concerns of his people.

"But you are a human." Tara diverted her eyes from the king, and the two met eyes. Tara's bright blue gaze was tempted to shift at the contact with the fair prince's eyes, but she was stubborn, and simply nodded.

"None the less, my residence is Rivendell, and the Elves there are my family in this world."

Thranduil raised a dark eyebrow.

"Do you mean to say you are of another world?" Gandalf shifted on the spot, and Tara put her hand on his elbow, trying to assure him she had everything under control.

"I mean to say that the Elves of Rivendell trust me, and that my home is with them. I have come here to learn more of Elven society, and _Mithrandir_ accompanied me to ensure my safe return."

It wasn't exactly a lie, and not exactly the truth either, but it was satisfactory.

No more questions were asked, as Thranduil turned around to ascend the stairs yet again, and Tara and Gandalf quickly followed. Legolas walked behind them, after making sure to tell the Horsekeepers to tend to the visitors' steeds properly.

_Tara enjoyed her visit in Greenwood very much. She had had many visions of Legolas' future endeavors, and his personality was just as she had hoped. The two became friends, and he taught her to shoot with a bow and arrow and taught her the customs of the Elvish people. She in turn told him stories of the world outside the forest, one he had rarely seen. She told him of the great white tower of Minas Tirith, of the shimmering ocean near Rivendell, of the hills and creeks of the Shire and of the magnificence found beneath the Lonely Mountain, within the Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor._

_She found out then, that Erebor had long since been taken by the dragon Smaug, and that she would be wise to not mention Dwarves during her visit. But you know why she did it Frodo? It was to know what was going to happen. You see, Tara had, with all her visions, not a certain idea of what happened around her. Past, future and present blended together for her, so she didn't know if the fall of Erebor was a vision of hers, or if it had already happened._

_It had. And this convinced her that she didn't have much time left to study in Rivendell._

_When they finally returned to the Elven home Tara loved, she was greeted like a long-lost family member by the inhabitants there. But not within a week of their return, Gandalf left. He had not even said goodbye to Tara. But when the lady Arwen told Tara this, she merely smiled and said she knew it already. She knew Gandalf had left to prepare for an adventure, and she knew it was going to happen soon._

_And this, my dear Frodo, is where I come in. For as by fate, and the will of a wizard, I was to be a part of the adventure Tara had foretold. It began, as one might expect, quite simple. Once there was a hobbit in a hole..._

Tenna' ento lye omenta = 'Till next we meet

Sana sina. Vara tel' Seldarine ar' Ama poldora a' lle. = Take this. Protection and Strength to you.

Amin naa Tara, Heruanmin Thranduil. Saesa omentien lle. = I am Tara, Lord Thranduil. Pleasure meeting you.


	3. One, Two and Six

**DISCLAIMER!: I do NOT own The Hobbit or Lord of the Rings in any way - Tolkien has that honor. I have written this purely for amusement-purposes, and I receive no credit. On that note; read on.**

_Wargs on the run, Dwarves on the run._

"_These are Roschobel rabbits!"_

"_Where are you leading us?"_

_Silver leaves._

Tara's eyes jolted open.

"Good gracious! Is it today?" She practically jumped up from her bed, looking at the paper she had hung up by her bed. She put another line on it, smiling sadly. It had now been 491 days since she had arrived on Middle Earth. One year, Two months and Six days. 126. Good number.

Tara quickly shook her head. With all the visions she was having lately, her head was going crazy. Reality slipped away at times, replacing itself with dreams and imaginations. She was becoming scatter-brained. She had asked Elrond of her mental state, but he insisted she was fine. And since he said so, Tara assumed it was her brain telling her she had been sitting still for far too long. She hadn't left Rivendell much since Gandalf left. How long ago was that? She looked back at her improvised calendar.

216 days.

She blinked.

216? 126? One, Two and Six?

Something was up with those numbers.

But back to business! She had only left Rivendell when her Elven friends in Greenwood wanted her company, and this was not often. Her lessons were also a rarer occurrence than previously, as the Elves said that they had taught her almost all she needed to know. _Needed_ being the important word in that sentence. Though she was a loved member of their society, she was still a human, and some things were just not for humans to know.

"Tara?"

Blue eyes blinked as she looked towards the voice.

"_Quel' amrun, Dieena. Mani naa ta_?"

The elven woman smiled, her blonde hair moving in the air of movement as she walked to Tara. Tara had gotten the habit of speaking as much Elvish as she could – practicing her pronunciation – but that didn't mean she understood it as well as she spoke it. So Dieena would say more complicated sentences in the human tongue, and then _perhaps_ translate it later.

"I thought I could convince you to come and play music with me." Tara smiled.

"You are just trying to stop me from getting bored enough to pester Lord Elrond." This was said in a teasing manner. Whenever Tara grew bored, she would go scouting for Arwen or Elrond, and since Elrond was the easiest to find, he would be pestered until Tara had something to do.

Dieena smiled kindly, taking Tara's one hand in her own.

"Since you already know, then just come along."

Dieena grabbed Tara's hand, pulling her out of the room. Tara was giggling as they walked through Rivendell's hallways, waving at all the elves they passed. She knew their names now. A young male, shoulder-length brown hair and liquid steel eyes, reminded her of her promise to join him hunting later.

"_Uuma dela, Ceoren. _I remember!"

This satisfied the young elven man, and the two women kept running. They almost tripped another woman, who was clearly on the way to the library (at least judging from the multiple books in her arms), and she yelled at them.

"_Llie edan! Tampa!_"

Dieena and Tara turned around simultaneously, bowing as well as they could while still half-running, and quickly apologized, before running away again.

Not until they were almost at the Melodious Chamber, as it was called, did they slow down to a walk. Dieena giggled at Tara's heavy breathing. Tara swore quite colorfully at her friend, before mustering up the air to speak coherently.

"How come you damn elves never seem out of breath?" she puffed, and Dieena shrugged.

"Don't you think you're just in bad health?" Tara sneered.

"I doubt it. I think it's just in your genes to never break your illusion of perfectionism," she, attempted, to insult, but it wasn't a rather good insult, she soon realized. Dieena just smiled, that annoyingly perfect Elven smile.

When they entered the room, they saw two other women already there. If Tara's memory served her correctly, and it most likely did, they were named Eamanë and Nari. Tara smiled at them, and as the two curtsied her, as gracefully as you might expect of an Elf, Tara once more, internally this time, cursed Elves in her head. If not for the fact that the Elves seemed to like her, she would suffer from major confidence issues, living with these types of people.

"Did you have a vision this morning, _Ainuhe_?" Nari asked curiously, earning a hard stare from Eamanë. Tara remembered the two were sisters, Nari being the youngest. She was still a child in Elven eyes, but in Human eyes, she was a grown woman. Tara giggled at her earnest interest, and she nodded.

"Yes, I did." The Elf's fair eyes lit up with interest, as she put down the flute she had been playing.

"What about? Was it the outside world?" she asked happily. Eamanë quickly shook her head.

"Nari, do not bother _Ainuhe_!" Tara quickly reached out.

"It is all right, Eamanë, I am not bothered." She then turned to Nari. "It was. And if you are patient, today will turn out to be very interesting," she hinted, winking at the young Elf. Nari was practically bouncing, as she tried to hold in the inevitable question: "What is going to happen?" Every Elf in Rivendell knew, that Tara would never explain her visions in detail to anyone but Gandalf the Grey, or perhaps Lord Elrond.

Eamanë smiled, though somewhat strained. Tara could practically read what was going on in the Elven woman's mind, beneath that headful of beautiful, silken black hair of hers. She was glad that Tara had made Nari happy, but she also knew that she herself was going to have to cope with Nari's bouncy curiosity for the rest of the day. The two curtsied once more, leaving the room; hereby leaving Dieena and Tara alone. Dieena was giggling.

"Don't you think that was cruel? Nari will be looking over her shoulders all day," she teased, and Tara smiled.

"She'll need to be looking at the ground more than over her shoulders in order to notice what's special about today," she said cryptically, chuckling a bit at her own joke. Dieena, of course, didn't get it, but she didn't try. She knew that she, eventually, would find out what had put Tara in such a good mood.

Dieena took her place beside a string instrument, which Tara had discovered sounded exactly like violins from her world, only these were stationary instruments, not portable. Tara was playing with an idea of how to make it portable, but so far, it was just an idea. Tara herself manned the large harp in the room, beginning to play along a familiar tune to her, and as Dieena tapped into the mental link the two had established over the past year, she played along to her. Tara hummed for a little while, but soon, simply because she couldn't help it, she also began singing.

Dieena liked hearing Tara sing, not so much because it sounded very good. She was getting better, because of the practice she so often got from their music lessons, but because she seemed so carefree. Though Tara always pretended to be happy, Dieena would notice times where Tara would just stop and stare into the horizon. She was probably thinking of the home she had lost.

Dieena had not heard much about it; it was not a topic Tara liked discussing. But she knew she had a mother, a brother and a man living with her mother. Tara's father had left the family one night, without an explanation, and since then, Tara's mother had become very distant. Tara had lived with her family, spending her time studying one of the ancient cultures of her native country, and her only hobby was playing something she called 'video games'. She had explained she barely had time for anything else than studying, and so she couldn't dedicate herself to a hobby.

And then there were the visions. Sometimes Tara would wake up, screaming, in the night, and mutter, just like when Dieena had seen that very first vision. She would mention evil, shadows and names in an incoherent bundle, which made no sense to Dieena at all. But Dieena knew that Tara saw ancient battles, villages being pillaged and children being killed, and it haunted her even while she was awake.

Sometimes, when the visions were particularly scary, Tara wouldn't be able to sleep the rest of the night, and then her pale face would have huge bags beneath her beautiful blue eyes. It was days as those that Dieena worried deeply for her friend.

A few songs later, a sour note was strung by the harp, and Dieena looked to her friend. Alarm appeared on her face, as she saw Tara's eyes close shut and her legs buckle beneath her. She quickly ran from her instrument, just in time to catch Tara in her arms.

"_Ainuhe! Tua amin!_"

"_Wolves?" But no – it wasn't wolves. It was Wargs. Wargs on the run._

_Radagast – He would chase them away. Gandalf was worried. They would catch him._

"_These are Roschobel rabbits – I'd like to see them try."_

_The Dwarves ran. Gandalf leaded them. Thorin didn't trust him._

"_Where are you leading us?" he asked._

_Silver leaves on the midsummer wind. Sweet elven air, oh dear Rivendell._

Tara's eyes jumped open, and she sat up with a sudden motion. She scared Dieena, who sat next to her. And as Dieena came with a loud noise to voice her surprise, Arwen and Lord Elrond turned around, also surprised. Tara looked around herself, her head moving so quickly her red hair flew all over the place. The three elves watched Tara with, somewhat, calm expressions, as she pieced together reality again.

When that was done, her eyes immediately sought out Elrond, and she let a toothy grin spread on her face.

"Lord Elrond! Just the Elf I needed to see!"

She practically jumped out of bed, further surprising Dieena. She had worried so about her friend, and now she worried even more. It wasn't normal for Tara to be acting like this. What in the world was happening today?

Tara blinked at a hunch she had, and she turned to Dieena.

"You! For how long was I out?"

Dieena blinked.

"Two hours and six minutes."

Tara laughed manically.

"126 minutes, you say? This is a wonderful day!"

Elrond and Arwen looked at each other.

"Has she gone mad, father?"

"I do not know, Arwen."

Tara furrowed her brow.

"Oh please! I am perfectly sane!"

Tara blinked a bit, realizing they were probably right. These visions were probably driving her a tiny bit insane, just a bit, but it would pass, she was certain.

"Anyways! Lord Elrond! I have a mission for you!" she said with a big grin. Elrond raised a dark eyebrow, and Tara smiled.

"Orcs."

Soon, Elrond and a handful of the best warriors in Rivendell were preparing their steeds for the ride. Arwen, Dieena and Tara were watching them saddle up; the latter finally returning to normal. Her worry was obvious on her young features, and when they were all ready to go, Elrond walked to her.

"You worry too much, _Ainuhe_. Was it not you who said I should go and take care of these Orcs?" he asked with a smile, and Tara sighed deeply, nodding. Elrond smiled.

"And was it not you, _Ainuhe_, who saw me safely returning to Rivendell afterwards?"

Tara had to nod once more, though his return hadn't exactly been part of her vision, but part of her knowledge from the movies.

"Then do not worry. I will be back safely."

"You promise?" Elrond nodded, putting a hand on Tara's redheaded scalp, pushing it towards his own so that their foreheads may touch. Tara had found, by the help of the Elves, that the mental link that Elves had with each other might be shared with her, on physical contact. And with their foreheads touching, Elrond transferred calm and tranquility to her, making a promise he would never break. She smiled, nodding as she could with her head locked in position.

"Got it."

And that was it. The elven warriors set out, and Tara sighed. Now that _that_ had been taken care off, it was only a matter of time before the company came by. She looked back to Arwen, smiling at her worried face. But it wasn't with worry for her father, Tara knew that; it was filled with worry for her. It had been a long time since Tara had last fainted of a vision, and both of her friends were treating her like porcelain.

Tara decided to give them something else to think about.

"We will have guests soon, I should think. Before Lord Elrond returns, at any rate. Arwen, you had better go tell everyone to prepare. Dieena, if you could talk to Ceoren and ask him to donate some of his meat to the kitchen, it would be great. Our guests are not exactly vegetarians."

The two girls stared at her.

"Did you just, deliberately, send my father away before we had guests come by?" Arwen asked, and Tara shook her head.

"It's not like that – Orcs _are_ running around on Elven ground, and they need to be chased away. In the meantime, I want everything to be ready for the guests, when they come. Can you please do as I ask?"

The two didn't seem keen on the idea of leaving Tara, but when she promised she'd stay put, they eventually did leave. They would probably return soon though... Tara giggled. How fortunate she was to have such worrywarts for friends.

She sat on the railing of the white stairs, closing her eyes and focusing. She needed to be mentally prepared for what was going to happen soon... Otherwise, it might not end pretty.

Tara stood up as she watched the company walk over the small bridge, leading into Rivendell. She could only imagine the scorn with which Thorin Oakenshield would greet her. As far as her visions let her know, he was not at all pleased with Gandalf's little trick. She smiled, counting the company. She couldn't remember the names of all the Dwarves, but it would come with time, she guessed. Bilbo and Thorin were, of course, some of the first she saw, besides Gandalf. Gandalf stuck out like a sore thumb, as usual.

As the company gathered on the plaza, she descended the stairs towards them. The company was silent; the dwarves looked around with mistrust, and Gandalf looked at her with a smile on his face. She smiled back.

"Welcome to Rivendell, everyone. I have been expecting you," she greeted. The dwarf prince seemed thoroughly annoyed; his eyebrows rose, as he looked the woman up and down.

"So you're who the wizard have been consorting with, She-Elf?"

Tara rolled her eyes, a gesture which only served to further alienate the Dwarf Prince from her. She didn't much care; Thorin would, most likely, not listen to a word she said anyways. But she still wanted to clear it up for the other Dwarves.

"I seem to have some misconceptions I must clear up; First, I am no Elf."

This resulted in some rather insistent comments from the Dwarves. Tara found herself blushing when she picked up a rather flattering opinion from the Dwarf she knew was Kili; "Anyone as beautiful as she _must_ be an Elf!" Gandalf chuckled at her blush. He no doubt found it very humorous. Tara had only heard that compliment a couple of other times, but each time it was equally strange.

"Thank you for your kind words, Master Kili, but-" She slowly removed some hair from her one ear, turning it to the company. "- as you can see, I have normal ears."

She turned her eyes back to Thorin's, still loaded with distrust enough for seven grown men.

"Second, I am a Seeress. _That_ is the reason I expected you, not because Gandalf supposedly told us of your arrival."

This made them talk again, giving Tara a chance to steal glances at Bilbo. He stared at her, not chatting with the rest of the company. Not a surprise, he was even now still an unwanted presence amongst the Dwarves. She smiled, approaching him. With every step she took, the Dwarves grew warier. She separated them as Moses once separated the waters and she ended up in front of the hobbit, who stared up at her with something akin to fear in his eyes. She smiled.

"U-Um... Um, excuse me?"

"I have long wanted to meet you in person, Bilbo Baggins. Visions are just not the way to get to know people," she greeted with a lighthearted smile on her face, calming the hobbit visibly. She then turned around slowly, letting her eyes rest a few seconds on each of the Dwarves. They all had very different reactions; some were still not exactly hiding their paranoia, while others were bad at hiding their curiosity. The latter was specifically the youngest Dwarves; Kili and Fili.

When her eyes once again zoomed in on Thorin's, they were filled with the same distrust before, regardless of whether she was an Elf or not. She had prepared herself for it, so it didn't quite hit the nerve she had thought it would. Rather, it intrigued her.

She walked back the same way she came, as she stood before Gandalf. She smiled affectionately, reaching out for the old man. He took her hands in his in reciprocation to her greeting.

"You are late."

Her teasing made the old man laugh.

"I am never late."

"Neither am I, and since I was here a long time ago, you are to blame," she pointed out. She squeezed his hands in her own, before looking up the stairs. The captain of the guards, -, descended to them, bowing to her once he had reached the bottom. She nodded at him and turned back to the Dwarves.

"You're aim is to speak with Lord Elrond, correct?"

It was Gandalf who nodded.

"He is not here."

The old wizard furrowed his brow, not understanding.

"Not here? Why?"

Tara smiled a mischievous smile. Bilbo Baggins felt a smile breaking out on his face as he saw the way her mood made her crystal blue eyes sparkle. She winked at the wizard.

"Well, you guys lured Orcs too close to Rivendell; I couldn't just let them roam freely near Elf borders without alarming Lord Elrond, don't you think?" she teased, and Gandalf sighed deeply. He should've known Tara would do something like that.

Of course, Gandalf didn't see the purpose.

"You knew we needed to talk to him, so why did you send him away?"

Tara puckered her lips together, wandering away from the old man, as she came to a stop at the edge of the platform.

"Maybe I was curious?" Gandalf raised his eyebrows. "I have only ever seen this company in my visions; I have marveled at the courage of a Dwarven prince I didn't know, laughed at the antics of two young Dwarven brothers without being able to join in, and I've smiled at the kind heart of a single hobbit without letting him know how important he is."

She turned around, fully aware that the entire company was staring at her. She smiled, shrugging.

"I was selfish, wanting to have a few moments just for me, to get to make my own ideas of them." Gandalf sighed.

"Tara-"

She groaned, throwing her hands into the air.

"I know, I know; 'You are a Seeress, you must place your duties to Middle Earth above your own wishes' and all that. Don't worry, Lord Elrond is here now," she pointed out, as they heard horses galloping on the pathways on the cliff side.

* * *

Quel' amrun, Dieena. Mani naa ta? = Good morning, Dieena. What is it?

Uuma dela, Ceoren = Don't worry, Ceoren.

Ainuhe = Seeress (literally Holy Woman).

Liie edan! Tampa! = You humans (insult insinuating busybodies)! Stop!

Tua amin! = Help me!

* * *

**I hope you enjoyed the chapter! :) As you have probably noticed, the first two chapters were a sort of prologue, to explain what made Tara the person she is at the beginning of her adventure. From here on, Bilbo's narrative will also be cut out, except from when Tara is apart from the rest of the company, as the rest of the times are included in the story he is already telling Frodo.**

**Look forward to the next chapter, which will hopefully be uploaded soon x)**


	4. The Feast

**Diclaimer: I do not own "The Hobbit" or "Lord of the Rings". Tolkien has that honour. This is a fanfic, written purely for amusement reasons. **

**Hi everyone! So, a lot of stuff has happened XD I've got myself a fan, firstly! SummerAngelz, thank you so much for your review ^^ Second, I've received my first official votes for the pairing! WOW! It is, as of this moment, 3 votes on Tara/Bilbo and 1 vote on Tara/Thorin. SummerAngelz, this IS a vote, and as such, if I (by a certain point in the story) have not received enough votes to say otherwise, it would seem that Tara will develop feelings for our dear Hobbit X) So read on!**

It was a sight to behold, and Tara was almost ready to laugh. As she moved to the side of Gandalf, the large steeds of Elves began encircling the Dwarves, who had bundled together in battle formation. It was, perhaps, a rather evil way to greet visitors from Elrond's side, but he seemed amused, at least.

Still sitting on his dark mount, he looked at Tara. The girl smiled, winking at the Elven lord.

"You knew we would have guests, did you not?" he asked pointedly, and Tara exhaled a dramatic gasp.

"I am HURT that you'd even insinuate such a thing! How on Earth would I know that _Mithrandir_ would drag DWARVES of all beings to your doorstep?" she teased, and Elrond chuckled as he demounted.

"You knew, which gave you all the more reason to get my guard out of the city."

Tara rolled her eyes, shrugging.

"I send you out because there _was_ Orcs out there, but yeah, I also wanted to meet the Dwarves without your stuffy guards looking over my shoulders. Ground me if you want," she rambled, causing Elrond to pinch her cheek, rather hardly. And as Tara rubbed her suddenly red cheek with an annoyed look on her face, Elrond greeted Gandalf as an old friend.

Tara let her eyes, for who knows what time that day, wander across the small group. Most of them were leering at the Elves who surrounded them, and Tara scoffed. Stupid guards.

"_Auta._"

All of the people suddenly looked at her, as if her voice had somehow cut through the air of seriousness that had descended upon them. And though the attention made her somewhat nervous, she crossed her arms, looking pointedly at the leader of the Elven guards.

"_Kela._"

Tara's brow was furrowed, as Elrond and Gandalf looked at each other with knowing grins on their faces. They observed Tara as her cheeks gained a red color, and her eyes grew annoyed.

"Do you not understand Elvish!? I said; go away. You are scaring our guests," she ordered, glaring daggers at the Guard Captain. He jumped at the look, and if Tara hadn't been busy trying to get her point across, she could've noticed the brief look of satisfaction that crossed Thorin Oakenshield's face. He enjoyed the sight of a grown Elven man being scared off by a small Human woman.

Of course, he didn't realize how scary Tara could be, if given the right incentive.

"But, _Ainuhe_, they're-"

Tara was just about ready to explode, and maybe the reason the Guard Captain didn't continue his sentence, was because he saw that.

"I know they're Dwarves, I'm not blind. Now – _Kela. Sii'!_"

And after a brief extra look at Elrond, no doubt hoping he would counter Tara's order, the Guards walked away, still casting the Dwarves wary glances. A loud groan from Tara made the Guards return their gaze forwards as they walked up the stairs.

Tara sighed loudly, turning back towards the Dwarves.

"About time! I swear, they treat me as some kind of royalty, but when I actually order them around..." Elrond smiled at her complaint.

"Perhaps it is because you do it so rarely that they are perplexed." Tara raised an eyebrow, without looking at the Elf.

"Noted, I will begin asking them to do my every whim. Stupid suggestion, _Heruanim_." She barely remembered adding a display of respect, so she wouldn't insult Elrond too badly in front of foreign royalty, but Elrond merely nodded, appreciating her comment.

Tara sighed, nodding back.

"Yeah yeah, I'll be quiet now. Should be about time for Arwen and Dieena to have gotten dinner ready for our guests anyway."

This caught _everyone's_ attention – even Thorin who had pretended to not care what they were talking about.

"Did someone say 'dinner'?" the fat dwarf with red beard asked, and Tara smiled.

"So I did, didn't I?" she asked with a giggle in her voice. Elrond raised an eyebrow.

"You've prepared for everything, haven't you?" he asked pointedly, and Tara turned to him, smiling innocently.

"Do not try to guilt-trip me, Lord Elrond, you were already planning on inviting them to dinner. I just knew and planned in advance," she accused, and this made Elrond chuckle.

"Sometimes I think you being a Seeress is a curse cast upon my people."

Tara smiled. "I know."

She turned back to the Dwarves with such enthusiasm, most of them took a step backwards in surprise. Only Dwalin and Thorin were stubborn enough to stay rooted. She giggled.

"Well, anyone hungry?" she asked loudly, earning small murmurs of consent from some of the Dwarves. She furrowed her brow.

"Oh, come on! I've heard more enthusiasm from Elf babies!" she mocked, causing most of the Dwarves to eagerly hoot. She nodded, happy with the outcome. Thorin, however, seemed less than pleased.

"That's much better."

She looked back to Elrond, who smiled at her. He then turned towards the Dwarves, to formally invite them, as the real host.

"_Creoso a'baramin. Tula, vasa ar' yulna en i'mereth_."

But as Elrond was an elf and the Dwarves were idiots, they of course all immediately thought his Elvish, as it was directed at them, was some sort of insult. Gloin was the one to react on what they all thought.

"Is he offering us insults!?" he boomed, and Tara and Gandalf almost simultaneously rolled their eyes.

"No, Master Dwarf, he is giving his permission for the dinner."

The Dwarves looked at each other, and Tara smiled. The stubbornness of Dwarves... It was actually quite endearing. Gloin turned back from the small conference, and he nodded.

"Well, in that case; lead on."

Elrond and Tara looked at each other, smiling. And as the Elf extended a hand to her, she took it, picked up the skirt of her white dress with the other hand and began walking up the stairs with Elrond at her side. Their guests followed them, the Dwarves glaring daggers at every Elf they passed; meanwhile, Elrond looked at her through the corner of his eyes.

"_Ainuhe, lle wethrine amin._"

"_Lle creoso, Heruanim. Ta nae seasamin._" Tara smiled at him, and he squeezed her hand. Gandalf was speaking in a hush-hush manner with the Dwarf king, and Tara was certain he was being scolded for his little stunt. Tara quite liked the idea; it was about time someone chewed Gandalf's ear off.

"U-Um. Excuse me?"

Tara looked down to her side, seeing that Bilbo had walked ahead of the rest of the group. A brief glance behind told her what his Dwarven companions thought of him 'consorting with the enemy'. She just rolled her eyes, before looking down at him with a smile again.

"What is it, Mr. Baggins?"

"I was just wondering – what kind of visions have you seen of me? You said you had wanted to meet me," he asked timidly, and Tara smiled, shaking her head.

"Forgive me, dear hobbit, but the manner of my visions is for me, and me alone. But let me tell you this – there is a reason Gandalf brought you along on this journey. You will have your part to play before your quest is over."

She could feel a stare at the back of her head, and she was certain it belonged to either Gandalf or Thorin – one or the other, as they were afraid she would reveal their plans to Elrond. Elrond, of course, knew better, and decided to wait with finding out what manner of quest they were on until later. Tara would never tell him at any rate.

Bilbo seemed downcast. Tara stopped in her tracks, turning fully towards the hobbit.

"Listen, Bilbo." She sat on her knees in front of him, smiling. The entire party had stopped with her, and she heard Gandalf chuckle as she took the hobbit's child-sized hands in hers. "I will speak to you later tonight, if you have any worries. Though I may not tell you in what manner my visions concern you, I am an expert at making people feel good with themselves, okay?"

Bilbo slowly nodded, clearly not comfortable with the stares of his companions, and Tara smiled, patting his hands with one of her own, before she stood up. She then turned to Elrond.

"Milord, could you lead them to the dining hall? I have something else to attend to," she begged, and Elrond raised a dark eyebrow. Tara sighed deeply.

"Do you really think I would avoid this dinner?"

"You avoided dinner last time the Elves from Mirkwood came." Tara scowled.

"A one-time occurrence only! Besides, I was the one to invite them to dinner in the first place, so it would be rude for me to not be there. I just need to make sure the Dwarves have something to eat too," she said with a smile, before turning to the group behind them. She curtsied, before hastily making her way down an adjacent hallway.

As Elrond and Gandalf led the Dwarves on, Bilbo looked after the direction Tara had run to. Bofur looked back to him, grinning.

"Missing your Elf friend already, Burglar?"

Bilbo looked at him, confused, as he had not quite heard what the Dwarf had said. But when his mind pieced together the sentence, he slowly shook his head.

"N-No, not really. Just curious what she had to do, is all... Besides, she's not an Elf, you saw her ears!"

Gloin scoffed.

"She's an Elf-lover, which is just as bad." Most of the Dwarves seemed to agree, but Bombur shrugged.

"They give us food, at least that isn't too bad," he pointed out. A minor discussion erupted amongst the Dwarves, all concerning the young human who had just left them, but before it could get out of hand, Fili voiced his opinion out loud: an opinion everyone shared.

"I don't trust her though. She looks at us like she knows everything; it irks me."

All of the Dwarves quickly agreed on this, but Gandalf looked behind at this comment.

"That's because, Master Dwarf, she _does_ know everything. If you knew every embarrassing secret of your companions, would you be able to hide your amusement while looking at them?"

This comment made most of the Dwarves go pale, and as they began to wonder what exactly Tara knew about them, Gandalf winked at Elrond with a mischievous look in his eyes, and Elrond smiled. The two of them knew, of course, that Tara's visions were usually a bit more important than the everyday dirty secrets of common folk.

Thorin was deep in thought. This Seeress could answer many questions of his; but she had already told them that she didn't say anything of her visions. But surely, if he just asked questions, she would give him answers? He was a Dwarf King, she had to tell him! He would make sure of it.

Dinner was ready, sure, but the Dwarves weren't happy about it. It was all green food, no meat! Dwalin and Nori were the most dejected ones. Bombur ate anything he could get his paws on, and Dori was eagerly drying to get the youngest Dwarf in the company to eat a leaf of lettuce; it didn't go well. Gandalf saw it, and he turned to Elrond. Bilbo, of course, was more than happy to eat the greens. It was different from the same stew he had been eating for the past few weeks.

"Where is Tara? From what I can see, she was going to get meat for the Dwarves," he speculated, and Elrond shrugged, not sure himself of the whereabouts of the Seeress.

"Where is the meat?" Dwalin scowled, while Oin was sniffing suspiciously at a piece of onion.

"Right here."

All of the Dwarves looked up, including Thorin who sat with Elrond and Gandalf. Gandalf and Elrond chuckled as Tara led five or six Elven woman into the dining room, each with a large tray of meat. There was venison, rabbit, pheasant and much else, and the Dwarves seemed like these six women were the most beautiful ones they had ever seen.

They were all cheering loudly as Tara got some of the women to help her take some of the salads off of the table, in order to make space for the trays of meat. Bombur actually gave Tara an awkward hug, resulting of him already trying to fit as much meat as possible onto his plate, so only one arm was available. Tara blushed slightly never the less, and backed away. She asked two of the women to bring lots of bread as well, before she walked to the separate table, where Elrond, Gandalf and Thorin sat. She put down the tray she carried, with venison, and curtsied.

"Sorry I am late, Lord Elrond, _Mithrandir_, King Oakenshield."

Elrond smiled.

"I see you took the time to dress for the occasion as well," he teased, and Tara giggled.

Her hair was smoothed out, with two braids creating a frame on each side of her face. Her dress was dusty white with silver patterns around the chest, and she had, for once, decided to wear the tiara King Thranduil had given her. It was silver as well, mimicking a vine with small flowers of gemstones. Gandalf smiled.

"You are beautiful, Tara," he complimented, and she curtsied as thanks.

"Thank you, Gandalf. You are, of course, not exactly dressed for dinner."

The three laughed.

"As always," Elrond noted and Tara nodded. She looked down at Thorin, who was looking up at her. It was ridiculous, the height difference. Even if he was sitting on an Elven stool, his feet a few inches off the ground, his head still only reached the middle of her stomach. She curtsied slowly, before taking her seat at the table, putting her between Gandalf and him.

And as they also began eating, Tara began to feel the first wave of annoyance with the young king. He didn't exactly do anything to her. Nor did he say anything awful... But he _stared_. And she knew that, even if she asked, he wouldn't tell her why; simply because she was 'in league' with the Elves.

Determined to make the King focus on something else, she decided to use her knowledge from the movies a little. She feigned surprise as she noticed the sword at Gandalf's waist.

"Gandalf! Isn't that an Elven blade?" she asked, and though Gandalf needed a little while to understand what she was talking about, he confirmed her statement almost immediately. Elrond was, of course, eager to see the blades, and Thorin handed his to the Elven lord first.

"This is _Orcrist_." He sent a pointed look in Tara's direction, and Tara realized he wanted her to translate.

"Meaning 'Goblin cleaver', right?" she obeyed, making Elrond nod with a smile. He then returned his focus to the Dwarf King.

"It was forged in the 1st age by the High Elves of the West. My kin." He gave the sword back to Thorin, with the wish that it might serve him well. And though Thorin was, of course, still wary of Elrond, he graciously accepted his wishes.

Then it was Gandalf's blade. That was, of course, also a famous blade. Tara looked behind her, as she knew Bilbo pulled out his own sword. She smiled, as she slowly stood up and, very quietly, walked towards him. The Dwarves were busy eating or talking, so no one but the three men at her own table noticed she approached them.

"Are you saying my sword's never seen battle?" Bilbo asked the Dwarf next to him, and Tara remembered his name was Balin.

"I am not even sure it is a sword. Looks more like a letter opener to me."

"It does have a name."

They both jumped at the sound of her voice, and she giggled at the surprise.

"Forgive me – at times I forget to make noise as I walk." Bilbo quickly assured her it was all right, but then remembered what she had said. His eyes suddenly lit up.

"You're saying... My sword _is_ a sword?" Tara laughed.

"A dagger, to be honest, but even a dagger can kill a mighty foe. Its name has been lost to the tides of history, but it was wielded by a kind-hearted man once," she shared. Bilbo eagerly nodded, willing her to continue her tale.

"This young man with his dagger once saved a Dwarf king, earning his ever-lasting friendship. The King had been to a meeting of his kin and was on his way home to his halls, and the young man just happened upon him, saving him from an Orc ambush. The man helped the King come home, and then went back to his village to live a life of peace. He lived for many years, sharing the tale with anyone who would listen."

The Dwarves didn't trust her as a person, but when it came to things such as history, they took her words for good measure. And as Bilbo seemed heartened at the tale, Tara looked down at Balin, whose eyes were scrutinizing her. She winked at him, and he smiled back. Had he seen through her little deception? It was not to tell. But as long as he wouldn't tell Bilbo that the events she had mentioned were yet to happen.

"Does the food suit all of you?" she asked kindly, and some of the Dwarves nodded eagerly, while others still eyed with her badly hidden animosity in their eyes (Dwalin especially).

"The food is all well an' good, but I don't get the music. It's so quiet and boring," Kili complained, and though Balin smacked the young Dwarf on the arm, Tara couldn't help but giggle.

"I assume it is an acquired taste."

Elrond stood up from his spot, and reached out to Tara.

"Then why don't you provide the music? I am sure you know what kind of entertainment our guests would enjoy," he said with a smile. Tara curtsied at him, agreeing. She turned around and saw Dieena already ready with her instrument. Tara couldn't stop a scowl from coming on her face.

"Conspirators" she insulted, and Dieena chuckled. Tara turned back towards the Dwarves, smiling as she began to stamp down onto the floor to create a drumming rhythm, along with clapping. Dieena's playing was beautiful, and Tara closed her eyes, concentrating.

As she began singing, the Dwarves gasped as the room they were in began flickering. Gandalf put a hand on Thorin's shoulder, as he was ready to grab his sword.

"Do not worry. Tara is preparing a show for us. I think you will enjoy it."

While the words floated from Tara and around the room, the Dwarves were astounded to find that the room suddenly faded away, replaced by green fields and mountains. Elrond smiled. It had been a long time since he had seen Tara share her visions like this.

"It's the Shire."

Bilbo was breathless, as he saw Hobbit-children running out of their Hobbit holes, dancing around Tara with flower crowns on their heads. But they weren't in the Shire for very long. Soon, they zoomed up into the air, and the Dwarves were astonished as they saw the grass disappear from beneath the table and they began floating in the air.

The song continued, and they moved over mountains, over plains and creeks. They could sometimes point out locations while in flight, and as the music was slowly going down in tempo, Thorin's eyes widened.

"Erebor."

They were hastily approaching the Lonely Mountain, and almost all of the Dwarves stood up, staring as their group went through the open doors of their lost homeland. They saw Dwarves milling around the roads, busy as always, and though they reached out to touch them, they found that their kin dissolved into golden dust and scattered on the wind.

And just before the song would end, they arrived at the Throne, empty, and Thorin stared upon it with wide eyes. The music continued for a while, without Tara's voice accompanying it. She looked at Thorin with a small, but sad, smile.

"The throne is waiting for its king, Thorin Oakenshield."

Thorin looked up at her, his eyes for once not filled with distrust, as the image of Erebor slowly dissolved, allowing them to return to Rivendell. The Dwarves were all breathless after seeing their lost home once again, but Bilbo started the applause and some of the Dwarves soon joined in, Kili and Fili clapping the loudest.

Tara curtsied with a smile, trying to hide the way her knees shook beneath her. The Dwarves didn't notice, her dress hid it quite well, but she could see Elrond and Gandalf furrow their brows with worry. And as she sat down in her seat once more, she looked at Thorin who was still staring at her, and smiled at him.

And rather than glare at her, he nodded. His version of a 'thanks', she supposed.

* * *

Auta = Leave.

Kela = Go away.

Sii' = Now.

Heruanim = My lord.

Ainuhe = Read the second chapter, I won't keep posting the translation ;) Seeress (Literally Holy woman)

Creoso a'baramin. Tula, vasa ar' yulna en i'mereth = Welcome to my dwelling. Come, eat and drink of the feast.

Lle wethrine amin = You deceived me.

Lle creoso, Heruanim. Ta nae seasamin = You're welcome, milord. It was my pleasure.

* * *

**So, I hope you enjoyed the chapter :D I know I did writing it x)**

**Any of you who have a favorite concerning who she should end up with, write a review or PM, and I will keep a note of it ^^ And in case I haven't written it anywhere else, then Tara will also be featured in a sequel to this one, once I get so far, taking place in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, so you can also vote for her to end with someone from that storyline XD**

**Until next time!**


	5. Going on an Adventure

******DISCLAIMER!: I do NOT own The Hobbit or Lord of the Rings in any way - Tolkien has that honor. I have written this purely for amusement-purposes, and I receive no credit. On that note; read on.**

**The vote results is, as of now, 4 on Bilbo, 4 on Thorin, 1 on Legolas and 1 on Aragorn.**

* * *

After the feast, Gandalf, Thorin, Elrond, Bilbo and Balin left the rest of them; Tara had stepped in the way of the other Dwarves, shaking her head with a smile. She knew what was going to happen, and she knew that no one else needed to follow them.

Instead, she sat at another table than the one of the other Dwarves, giggling at their silly antics. She was glad they seemed to enjoy themselves, albeit the Elves overlooking them seemed somewhat alienated at their manners. When Bofur threw a sausage at Bombur, causing the table to break beneath him, they all doubled up laughing.

Tara began unbraiding her hair cautiously, as Kili joined her at her table.

"Hey."

She looked at him, smiling at his cheeky grin.

"Hey you. What's up?"

"I was just wondering how a human came to live in Rivendell." Tara shrugged at this question.

"I don't know myself. I was just minding my own business at home, then everything went black and I woke up here."

Kili obviously didn't quite get it, so she began explaining how she had begun having visions about one and a half year ago. The first time she had a vision, it had happened in her sleep, and when she woke up, she had been unconscious for a week, and woke up in Rivendell.

"Is it possible the Elves kidnapped you?"

Tara scoffed.

"Not quite. I am from very far away. The Elves have no knowledge of my home. It is more likely that I was whisked away by some sort of foreign magic, and just dumped here. Arwen, the daughter of Lord Elrond, said my injuries were as if I had fallen from a mighty tower," she explained. Kili shuddered at the thought. Tara giggled as she remembered Dwarves as having a fear of heights.

"What about you?"

Kili blinked, confused. Tara rested her elbow on the table, having finished with pulling out her braids. The part of her blood red hair that had been in the braids earlier on was curled, and she had to blow some of them away from her eyes.

"You know why I am here."

"No. I know what you are here for, I don't know _why_." It was a correction Kili didn't understand. Tara giggled.

"I mean, why've you joined your Uncle on this quest of his? You don't seem the type of Dwarf to long to reclaim a lost kingdom," she explained. Kili had to get past the surprise that she knew he was Thorin's nephew, as he hadn't told her, but then he grinned.

"Honor, Gold, an Adventure? What other reason do I need?" he asked with a laugh, and Tara raised a red eyebrow. She smiled, shrugging.

"When you want to tell me the real reason, I'll be waiting to hear it," she said, sticking out her tongue. Kili scratched the back of his head. She was better at seeing through that than he had expected.

"Then again, I am a perfect stranger. Why should you share the inner workings of your mind with me?" she justified, winking at him. Kili laughed, apparently more comfortable as she showed her understanding of his choice. Tara tipped her head to the side, looking at the young Dwarf in thought. And he truly was young; the only one of the Dwarves to not have a fully grown beard on his face.

"What?" he asked, confused. She shook her head in answer.

"Nothing – I am just conversing with myself. For as long as I have lived here, I have been held in high regard because of my visions. I have never tried people _not_ trusting me because of them. I think I've have been with the same people for too long."

She laughed at her thoughts, standing up.

"Thank you for talking with me, Kili. But my presence is required elsewhere," she explained.

"What do you-" Kili began, but as soon as Tara looked towards the door, Elrond appeared.

"Tara, can you come along?"

She looked pointedly at Kili, who laughed.

"I see."

When Tara was gone, Fili joined his brother at the table, raising a blonde eyebrow. His brother shrugged.

"So? What's the verdict?"

Kili grinned.

"She'll be fun."

Tara walked along with Elrond, Balin, Gandalf, Thorin and Bilbo, quickly stopping Gandalf from trying to bring her up to speed.

"The Dwarven map has Moon Runes on it, correct?" she asked with a bored look on her face. Gandalf chuckled at her expression. It was one he had often seen – almost every time he tried to explain something, Tara would stop him in his tracks and say exactly what he was going to say. Gandalf found it amusing.

"You knew from the beginning," Elrond, not asked, but stated. Tara winked at the Elven Lord, who handed the map to her.

"Then why didn't you tell us?"

This was the first time since they met, that it was Thorin who spoke to her, and she turned around, shock in her face. She quickly got over it though, as she should expect him to be annoyed with her.

"Because; if I just tell you everything that will happen, what's left for you to do?"

This was said with so little emotion, it actually angered Thorin. This annoying human woman spoke to him as if he was a small child, and he didn't like it one bit. Tara just turned around and kept going, the map in her hands.

She could see the annoyance on the Dwarf King's face, and she smiled the tiniest bit. She was going to have fun.

"What kind of moon shone on this map at the time?"

"A Crescent Moon on a Midsummer's Eve 200 years ago."

Tara squealed and jumped a bit on the spot. The Dwarves and Bilbo raised their eyebrows, and Tara quickly turned around, though still walking in the correct direction. She smiled.

"Fate has guided you well, Thorin Oakenshield. I am sure you are aware of the fact that Moon Runes can only be read in the light of an identical moon as to when they were written?" she asked, and the Dwarf King nodded, his mane of dark hair following the movement. Tara winked at him, turning around and running the last stretch of hallway until she arrived at the open cave Elrond was guiding them towards. A small waterfall fell in front of the mouth of the cave, and she merrily stepped towards the crystal block at the end.

"The same moon shines on us tonight." She turned around, spreading her arms out towards the rest of the group who just now entered the cave.

"I assume you want me to clear those dreadful clouds blocking our moonlight?" she asked, this time talking to Elrond. The elf in question bowed politely, and Tara turned around reaching her hands up to mimic the clouds covering the moon.

The closer the group came to her, the clearer they felt it. A soft wind drifting around the cave, making the Seeress' hair fly around her pale face, illuminated by the moonlight. Her blue eyes glazed over with concentration and her hand slowly moved to one side. And as Bilbo looked up at the dark night sky, he saw the clouds moving with her hand, letting the moonlight enter the cave through the waterfall.

The crystal table inhaled the moonlight, and the brighter the table became, the clearer the forgotten Moon Runes on the parchment became. Thorin was mesmerized by the secrets of his people, and he stepped closer to Elrond, in order to see the runes clearer. Tara smiled. She wondered if he knew how close he stood to an Elf at that very moment.

Elrond let his slender hands smooth out the parchment, as he read the Dwarvish runes.

"Stand by the grey stone when the thrush knocks, and the setting sun with the last light of Durin's day will shine upon the keyhole."

"Durin's day?"

Tara looked down at Bilbo.

"It's the start of the Dwarvish New Year where the last Moon of Autumn and the first Sun of Winter appear in the sky together," she explained. This did not bode well. Thorin turned to his advisor, Balin.

"Summer is passing, and Durin's day will soon be upon us." But Balin did not give up hope.

"We still have time!"

"Time for what?"

"To find the entrance! We must be standing at exactly the right spot at exactly the right time. Then, and only then, can the door be opened," he explained.

Tara nodded with a smile, but Elrond's comment made her look down, her smile erased.

"So this is your purpose? To enter the mountain?"

Thorin immediately grew hostile.

"What of it?"

Tara stepped in, shielding Elrond from Thorin's glare and reaching out her hands as a mean of pacification.

"Elrond is merely suggesting that there are some who wouldn't deem it wise."

"What do you mean?" Gandalf asked cautiously. Elrond turned to him from behind Tara's back.

"You are not the only one to stand guard over Middle Earth," he said, as he led Gandalf out. Tara looked after them, sighing deeply. Thorin took the map down from the table, folding it and carefully putting it back in his coat.

"Who was he talking about, Seeress?"

Tara looked at Bilbo, who had been the one to ask. She raised her eyebrows, clearly not understanding his question.

"About others standing guard over Middle Earth?" he elaborated. Tara came with a small sound, indicating understanding, as she began leaving the cave. She beckoned for the three to follow her, and they did without much fuss. There was, after all, nothing more to do in the Moon Cave.

"Gandalf has chosen to look after all races of Middle Earth, and there are two more who do so in this world, who might want to speak to him of his plans to help you guys take back Erebor; this being Lady Galadriel of Lothlórien, and the greatest Wizard of the Order, Saruman the White."

Thorin had heard of both of these people, and he didn't like the implication that they might try to stop them from going to Erebor.

"Will they try to stop us?"

Tara sighed.

"Well, you can bet your new sword that Saruman will, but he's an idiot," Balin chuckled at the way the young human spoke of the mightiest Wizard. "Lady Galadriel, on the other hand, trusts Gandalf's judgment above all, and as Gandalf's wants this quest to succeed, Lady Galadriel will do nothing to prevent it."

The small group turned a corner, the noises of the rest of the Dwarves reaching them faintly, yet they were still far from them.

"That being said, I think it would be wisest to leave immediately. Gandalf can only hold them off for so long," she insisted, and Balin smiled.

"You are on our side then?"

Tara giggled.

"I don't like taking sides – I want you to succeed, I want Erebor to be with a king again. If that is enough to qualify me as 'on your side', then I suppose."

"Why?" It was Thorin who asked, and Tara looked to her right, where he was walking next to her. She smiled.

"Because I've seen it. I've seen the majestic feats of the Dwarves, I've seen the beauty of an Erebor restored. You have already lost Moria, I don't want you to lose anymore," she said.

"It is none of your business."

"I beg to differ. I have a personal interest in your journey, so you better believe it is my business. Besides, you don't know the way out of Rivendell. If you try to leave the same way you entered, you will either be caught by guards or be stuck in that passage."

The group stopped, as Balin looked up at her.

"Am I to understand you'll help us out?"

She looked down at him.

"Indeed you are, Master Dwarf. Now, let's get moving – I really don't want to be here when Saruman decides to take matters into his own hands."

Getting the Dwarves ready to leave didn't take long. The Elves who were in the room had been sent out as the first thing by Tara, and Thorin quickly brought the company up to speed. When Gloin asked if Tara could be trusted, it was Fili of all people who spoke up for her.

"'Course she can, she's given us meat, helped us decipher the map and now she's going to show us the way out of this place!"

The other Dwarves hooted, and Tara sent a grateful glance Fili's way. The young Dwarf winked at her, causing her to giggle. No doubt Kili had spoken her case to his brother. Bilbo was getting ready too, yet he seemed sad to leave. Tara smiled.

"Rivendell has woken that young hobbit who ran into the forest, hm?" she teased, squatting down next to Bilbo. He jumped a bit at her close proximity, but knew better than to be surprised she knew about his childhood hobby. He nodded slightly.

"I had always dreamed of seeing Elves – I don't feel like I've seen all there is to see." Tara smiled, putting an arm on Bilbo's back.

"You can never see all there is to see – but I promise you, this is _far_ from the last time you will see Elves, Bilbo Baggins. So get your stuff packed and get back on your adventure," she said with a smile.

Bilbo looked at her, seeing the truth emanating from her bright blue eyes, and he felt his heart relieved of the heaviness of departure. He would miss the Seeress. She was a kind soul in a time where he felt alone, though he had companions all around him.

It didn't take long for the company to have packed all of their sparse belongings, and Tara threw her head backwards.

"All right, let's go everyone."

She quickly moved through the hallways of Rivendell, keeping them out of sight. When the odd Elf or two saw them, Tara just indicated silence by putting her finger to her lips. She knew it was only a matter of time until one of the Elves would tell the Guard Captain what they had seen; but, hopefully, by that time, they'd be far away.

As soon as she had decided, a few months ago, that she would join Thorin Oakenshield when he came upon Rivendell, she had looked around the city, keeping her eyes peeled for the most hidden way of getting out of the city.

And she had found it. It was a road through the gardens, where she found a small, winding path heading up the Cliffside. She knew most of the Dwarves were throwing glances around as they made a brief stop at the kitchen area of the city. She picked up a bag from the corner, fitting it on her back.

Thorin noticed it, but he stayed his tongue. If he began snapping at the woman, it probably would not be beneath her to tell on them and stop them from going on the journey all together. Although Thorin disliked the implications her backpack gave him.

"All right. Now, this will be tricky. We're going to have to go through an open area for a while, but as soon as we're down the stairs, we'll be safe enough. Come along," she said, and quickly moved.

Thorin instructed everyone to keep their eyes peeled for Elves, before he followed Tara. That woman was remarkably light on her feet. She barely made any noise as she walked across the bright stone floor, and he was certain that, given the right amount of darkness, she would be all but invisible.

But the right amount of light, Bilbo continued the thought, she seemed to shine like her own moon. A beautiful moon, clad in silk and with two large pools of iced water and a river of blood red wine. He had never seen many humans – rarely had he gone so far from the Shire, but he was certain not all looked as Tara.

Tara looked around, wary, but nodded gladly when she didn't notice a single Elf around. She summoned the Dwarves to her, Thorin being the first. He was the King; he would lead the way.

"Shouldn't there be more out at this time?" he asked, suspicious. Tara looked down at him, mischief in her blue eyes.

"Not if their prized _Ainuhe_ told them that it would be in their best interest to stay away from the garden that night," she pointed out, and Thorin looked up at her. That woman was craftier than he had imagined.

"I assume 'Ainuhe' refers to you," he stated with a low voice, and Tara smiled at him.

"It might. Come on, or do you want to stand around talking all day?" she teased, before darting off again. He leered after her, but none the less followed.

As they wove in between the silver pillars, supporting the loft, Tara urged the Dwarves on. She had pointed Thorin towards the correct staircase leading down from the city into the Gardens, and she kept an eye out for the Elves. When Bombur, as the last, descended the stairs, she made ready to follow. Until –

"_Ainuhe?_"

She froze on the spot, staring down at the Dwarves who had also heard the voice. She made a quick hiss, indicating they should be silent, as she turned back. She sighed.

"_Ceoren. 'Quel undome._"

"_Ainuhe, lle tyava quel?_" He approached her, his long blonde hair swaying in the wind. Tara approached him, desperate to keep him away from the stair. She smiled, shaking her head.

Kili moved his head around down the stair, wondering if he should try to move. A quick glance at his uncle said 'no'. Thorin knew full well how good the Elves' hearing was. He should've been able to hear them, but he could only assume that his attention was on Tara, and that was the only thing that held them hidden.

"_Uuma dela, Mellon. Mani naa ta?_"

"_Manke naa lle autien?_"

Tara pointed back towards the Gardens with a smile.

"I thought I told you to stay indoors." Ceoren laughed, his melodic laughter ringing in her ears.

"I was wondering how long you could keep speaking Elvish." Tara smiled at him, joining her hands in front of her.

"Ceoren, answer me. What are you doing out?" He sighed.

"You're leaving again, aren't you?"

Tara widened her eyes. How did he know? Oh, right... She sighed. The backpack.

"Yes."

"Are you coming back?"

"Eventually."

Ceoren's eyes grew hard.

"Does this have anything to do with those blasted Dwarves?"

Tara stepped on his foot. His loud 'Ow' made more than half the Dwarves snicker soundlessly. Kili and Fili looked at each other, nodding firmly. That was their Tara!

"It might, and it might not! Even if it does, it's none of your business." Ceoren sighed.

"_Ainuhe_, is this the reason you asked everyone to stay away from the Gardens?"

Tara sighed.

"Ceoren, is there anything in particular you want to tell me, or can I get on with leaving?" she asked. Ceoren smiled, pulling something out from behind his back.

"I had a feeling you'd be leaving soon, so I brought you something."

Tara widened her eyes as she saw the sword he presented her. It was thin and sharp, an Elvish variant of a rapier. She picked it up, astonished at how light it was. She could carry this around easily enough.

"Ceoren-"

The Elf hushed her by putting his finger on her mouth. He smiled sadly at her.

"Go on. I'll tell Dieena, Lady Arwen and Lord Elrond you said goodbye."

Tara smiled, tears slowly gathering in the corner of her eyes at the thought of leaving Dieena behind without giving her a reason.

"Don't let Dieena follow me, please?"

Ceoren shook his head.

"Of course not. Go ahead, Ainuhe, or you might be caught by someone else." He leaned in closer to her, whispering. She giggled at his whisper, nodding.

"_Aa' menealle nauva calen ar' malta, Ainuhe._" He kissed the back of her hand, and she curtsied.

"Goodbye my friend."

As soon as Ceoren turned around the corner, Tara exhaled and turned back to the stairs. And as she descended it, she smiled at the Dwarves.

"You can breathe now, guys."

Every dwarf (apart from Thorin, who of course had to play cool) let the breath they had been keeping go, and Tara giggled silently. She pulled out a belt from her backpack, tying it around her waist and tying the rapier in it.

"Let's go. We're not entirely out of the woods yet," she said with a smile, before moving quickly through the garden. Thorin fell in behind her as before, looking at her neck. He had seen the tears in her eyes when she walked down the stairs, but chose not to comment on it. It was not his place, and besides, if she didn't want to leave, it would take a load of his shoulders.

They made their way beneath the trees, the sounds of nature all but lost on them. They were all too intent on making as little sounds as possible, except Tara who did so out of habit. She, instead, focused on finding the correct path.

After a bit of searching she recognized the way, and as she closed in on one of the trees, seeing the mark she had created in the bark, she nodded.

"Up here, everyone. This path will lead onto the plains."

Some of the Dwarves began moving up the path, but Thorin stayed put, and this soon stopped those who had begun moving. Tara looked at him, leaning up against the tree.

"I assume you know what I've planned, King Thorin?"

Thorin scowled.

"I do, and I don't like it." She shrugged in reciprocation.

"I don't care. You can't stop me from following. To use your own words; you cannot guarantee my safety, nor will you be responsible for my fate."

Thorin's brow furrowed, and Tara smiled, feeling awfully cheeky.

"As I said, I have a personal interest in your quest, and therefore I will come with you. If it makes it better, you can choose not think on it as me joining your group, but merely me following you for my own selfish reasons. No responsibility on your part. Now, get going, I think Ceoren has backstabbed me at this point and informed the Guard Captain that you're gone."

This made the Dwarves move once more, and left Thorin and Tara at the bottom of the pathway, him still looking at her. He groaned, thinking that this Seeress was too much trouble. What had he done to deserve _two_ burdens on his quest!?

"I can at least fight, contrary to Bilbo. And if it helps, I'll look out for him."

Thorin didn't like the fact that Tara seemed to be able to read his mind at times, and after a quick glare aimed at her, he followed his men up the pathway. Tara looked after them, taking a deep breath. No looking back.

"_Cormamin niuve tenna' ta elea lle au'_, _Rivendell_."

And with this final farewell, she took her first step as a stalker of the company of Thorin Oakenshield.

* * *

Ceoren. 'Quel undome. = Ceoren. Good evening.

Ainuhe, lle tyava quel? = Seeress, do you feel well?

Uuma dela, Mellon. Mani naa ta? = Don't worry, friend. What is it?

Manke naa lle autien? = Where are you going?

Aa' menealle nauva calen ar' malta = May your ways be green and golden.

Cormamin niuve tenna' ta elea lle au' = My heart shall weep until it sees thee again.

* * *

**And just to clear up the rules, so everyone knows them: You may cast a vote on a pairing related to The Hobbit and a vote on a pairing related to The Lord of the Rings.**

**The pairing with the most votes will become canon (Unless it's Aragorn/Tara)**

**The pairing with the second highest votes will be a one-sided love (Unless it's Bilbo/Tara)**

**If Bilbo has the second highest amount of votes, then it will be the pairing with the third highest that has the extra one-sided love, as Bilbo is already certain will have one as such.**

**On that note! Hope you liked the chapter :D Look forward to the next one, everyone! ^^**


	6. Getting Accustomed - Barely

**There is something I must stress - I am deeply sorry, Guest Reviewers, but I will not accept your votes. This is something I feel I must do, to ensure everyone only gets the votes that they are allowed to. If not, those who have already voted could just log out and then put more votes in while pretending to be new persons. Again, I regret this is the action I must take, but I must insist ):**

* * *

The path leading into the plains wasn't a tough walk. The walk on the plains was worse. The Dwarves were accustomed to it, of course, but Tara felt her breath come in hitches after a few hours. She had known this would happen when she left, of course. The amount of physical exercise she had given her body had not been as great as the exercise on her mind.

But Mordor would claim her before she would complain. She was quite aware of what kind of look Thorin would send her if she began complaining. Bilbo walked next to her, and his eyes were worried when looking up at her.

"Tara, are you sure you're all right?"

This was the seventeenth time he had asked her since she first began breathing harder, and she was just about ready to yell. But she knew he meant well, and therefore, she looked at him, blinking at him.

"Are you going to keep asking, until I admit that I am having trouble breathing?" she asked, a raised red eyebrow, and Bilbo sighed, shrugging.

"I suppose you're right." Tara smiled, patting the Hobbit's shoulder with her one hand.

"It's all right, Bilbo, I'm just not used to... Well, I suppose you'd call it hiking. In the time I've lived in Rivendell, anywhere I've gone, I've gone on horseback. Besides that, the only other exercise I've gotten was practicing sword fighting by myself or dancing with the other girls."

"They didn't let you leave?"

This was asked by Kili, who was walking behind her with his brother. She furrowed her brow. Why did he continuously believe that the Elves had restricted her in such a manner? Had she given off the wrong impression somewhere along the line?

"It's not like that. It just didn't happen. I've had in mind to go beyond Rivendell a few times, but in the end it never happened. Call it 'indecisiveness' on my part if you'd like," she admitted.

Fili furrowed his brow. The concept was probably foreign to him, Tara could see that. He seemed the type to seize the moment, do whatever he wanted to do, when he wanted to do it. Tara was the type to think 'this could be nice', but in the end delayed it, sometimes inevitably.

The sun had begun to set when they made camp, and Tara immediately put down her backpack. She inhaled deeply, feeling the air burn her lungs. They had set up camp by a rock formation in a small indentation of the plains. Tara couldn't fathom what had made the hole, but she had never been very keen on nature science anyway.

Thorin ordered Bofur and Bifur to find as much material nearby as possible for the campfire, while Ori and Bilbo helped each other find some of the food they had gotten from the Elven kitchen. Tara herself walked a bit further away from the company, creeping down beneath one of the smaller rocks. Hiking in an Elven dress was not pleasant business. It stuck in all the bad places because of the sweat of her body, and the tiara wasn't exactly something she wanted to be wearing out in the open when not in Rivendell either. She pulled out a bundle of new clothes from the backpack, slowly and carefully taking off her dress and tiara, packing the latter into the dress and putting it down into the backpack.

As soon as she felt eyes on her, she pulled up her rapier and pointed it upwards. She was pointing it to Kili, of course, who eyed the tip of her sword with a goofy smile on his face.

"I was wondering where you'd gone off to."

Tara glared at him.

"Go away. I'm changing, in case you haven't noticed," she informed him, making a small movement with the sword that caused him to lift himself up from the rock. He nodded.

"I did."

"I just bet you did, yeah. And as I said, go away."

Kili did as she asked, partly because his Uncle called for him, and partly because that was the first time Tara had actually glared at him. Her eyes were weird enough as it was, a color he had never seen before, but they were scary when she was mad.

Tara sighed when he left, happy that she had been smart enough to wear a thin and short dress of linen underneath the rest of her clothes. As clothes went, it wasn't exactly good for anything, but it had saved her from a rather embarrassing event.

Tara quickly got dressed in the clothes she may, or may not, have stolen from the dresser in her room. For some reason, there had been some travelling clothes in the bottom of her dresser that morning. She realized, of course, that someone must have put it there. Her suspects were Elrond, Cereon or Gandalf. The second sounded more and more likely with every thought going through her mind.

She stood up once her clothes were on. It was a dark blue linen shirt, a pair of dark trousers and boots with proper soles, so it wouldn't hurt her to walk. She also had her belt with her sword and an elven cloak, meant as both a barrier for bad weather and a blanket for when she needed to sleep. She also had some more clothes packed for when the weather got colder.

She had her hair hanging loose, as she was quite certain a simple piece of thread wouldn't be able to hold it up. She left the hiding place behind the rock after making certain everything was in order with her clothes, and as soon as she came around, Kili, Fili and Bilbo looked to her. Kili and Fili smirked coyly while Bilbo blushed. Tara leered at the dark haired young dwarf, no doubt responsible, and she put her hands on her hips.

"Kili, I would keep your mouth shut if I were you. First off, you didn't see nothin'. Second, most women are rather inclined to slap men who peek on them while changing," she pointed out, threatening him with her clenched fist.

Most of the Dwarves chuckled at this display, and as Tara sat down on the spot, her back resting against the rock, she closed her eyes. She was so unbelievably tired. And hungry. She pulled her backpack towards her, breaking off a piece of the bread that she had found in the kitchen. She slowly closed her eyes, the dry bread sating the worst of her hunger, but inspiring thirst in her throat as well. She pulled out a flagon of water from her backpack as well, drinking a small amount. One thing she _had_ learned back when Gandalf took her travelling – to ration her food and water. You never knew when you could get something new, after all.

Her stomach yearned for more food, more water, but if _one_ thing about Tara was still human even after living with the Elves for so long, it was her stubbornness. She pulled her cloak over her body, letting the warmth come slowly to her body as she began resting. And she fell asleep.

_Gandalf the Grey in Rivendell. Galadriel was talking to him._

_A pale Orc, sending his Warg scouts to all directions._

"_A bounty on the head of Dwarf Thorin."_

_A shadow, gaining power. It creeps closer._

"_I've got you now!"_

Tara's eyes jumped up as her body shot forward. It was dark, and at first she thought she was still in her vision. But as she heard a loud snore, probably one of the Dwarves, she calmed down. Or, calmed down as much as she could at that moment. She still felt uneasy, and scared, and other things.

She slowly stood up, stretching her stiff limbs after sleeping on the ground (something she had not done for a very long time), and she stood wobbly for a few seconds. As her eyes slowly got used to the sparse light of night, she let her eyes wander around the campsite. All the Dwarves were there, plus Bilbo, of course. It couldn't be that long since the others went to sleep. The fire was still going, albeit very faintly, and she slowly walked closer to it, her cloak in her hands. She sat down close to the fire, wrapping the cloak around her.

She was hypnotized by the dancing flames, and though she felt her body tried to fall asleep again, her angst of the strange shadow in her vision kept her awake.

"What did it mean? It wasn't like the Shadows I have seen before. They were never aimed at me before," she muttered to herself.

"Is something wrong, lassie?"

Tara didn't have to look up to know it was Balin who spoke. She slowly sighed, nodding.

"Just another vision, Balin. But an unsettling one none-the-less," she admitted. The old dwarf slowly got up from his sleeping spot and walked to the fire.

"How so?" he asked, looking at her. She looked up, the fire mirrored in her eyes. Balin was not against her, she knew that, but she didn't want to tell him of her visions all the same. She didn't want to tell anyone. She felt like they were her burden. She had stopped, a long time ago, being able to distinguish between dreams and visions. Sometimes she wondered if her visions were only her memories of the movies mixed with her own imagination, but then something would happen, that would make her assured that the visions were indeed warnings. But from who?

She was a child of the modern world, she didn't usually believe in magic and gods. Magic was undoubted now, as she was in Middle Earth, she could even use her own weird kind of magic at times. But Gods? She sighed, realizing she had been caught up in her thoughts. Balin didn't seem to mind though.

"It is nothing concerning Erebor, do not worry. But I have begun seeing Shadows of late, evil springing up everywhere in the world. But I am unable to see the shapes of the Shadows. Most of them, I am aware of, know what they are going to do. I have seen it. But some again are new to me. It is the part of not knowing that scares me," she admitted. It felt strange. She had gotten so used to knowing the past and future, seeing what she didn't already know, that the prospect of ignorance terrified her.

Balin smiled, putting his large dwarf hand on her back. She felt comforted as he patted her a few times. She smiled at him, feeling the knot of insecurity loosen the slightest bit in her stomach.

"Thank you, Balin," she whispered, before taking a deep breath. She looked around, noticing Ori was on guard, sitting on a rock at the top of the hole. She looked back at the old Dwarf, who blinked.

"I think I'll go keep Ori company; I won't be able to fall asleep in a bit anyway," she said with a small smile, standing up. Balin nodded at her, standing up as well.

"Don't worry so much- What was your name again?" She smiled, curtsying for the fun of it.

"Tara." She realized that the Dwarves hadn't heard her name that often while in the city. People had either called her Ainuhe or Seeress. Gandalf and Elrond were the only ones who had called her Tara, and that had been very rarely. Balin nodded, a small smile on his old face.

"Don't worry, Tara. I will see you in the morning," Balin greeted, before going back to his spot. She looked after him, nodded to herself. There was no reason to worry... At least for now. She should focus on the journey to Erebor. It was hard enough to keep up with the stout little people already, even without having something to ponder on. She slowly climbed out of the large hole, making Ori look back at her when he heard the sounds she made.

"What are you doing here, Seer?" he asked suspiciously. Tara held up a finger to indicate she would answer in just a moment, before she sat down next to the stone he sat on, taking a deep breath of the nighttime air. It was a wonderful feeling. And _then_, she answered.

"I had a vision, so I can't sleep. Thought I might as well come up to you," she admitted, and Ori furrowed his brow.

"I am on lookout-duty, I'll be yelled at if I don't focus." Tara blinked. That was right, she hadn't thought of that. Tara shrugged.

"I can help? If we both focus half on lookout and half on conversation, we can still keep a proper lookout. What'd ya say?" she asked with a grin, and Ori looked down at her, not quite sure what to say. On one hand, the lookout-duty was very boring, and Ori had already been on the lookout for more than an hour, without anything happening. But he also knew that Thorin would yell at him if he didn't take the job seriously, and perhaps even because he was talking with the Elf-lover. Thorin didn't like her.

But if the Seer went back to bed before dawn, then surely no one would notice? And he was curious about their newest addition to the company. Bilbo still seemed like he didn't know what he wanted to do, stay or go back home, while the Seer had come with them, even though Thorin had told her many times already to go back to Rivendell.

"All right. But pipe down, you hear?" Tara smiled, nodding eagerly at his request, and she scooted a bit around, trying to find a comfortable sitting position. When she had found one as such, she looked up at Ori, who had returned to his duty of keeping a lookout.

She looked back out at the horizon as well, seeing bare plains for as far as she could. The mountain range they were heading for was towering on the horizon, and she sighed slightly.

"What is it?"

"I am dreading the climb in the Misty Mountains," she explained, and Ori bit his lip. He wondered what he should say. One part wanted to cheer the woman up; after all, she _had_ helped them get out of Rivendell, given them food and had expressed her wish for them to succeed. But then again, she... Ori sighed. The only actual things he had against the woman, was that she had been living with Elves, and that she clearly knew things concerning their quest, but wouldn't share.

"You'll do fine," he promised. Tara looked at him, blinking confused. He scratched his red hair, trying to find something to cheer the woman up.

"After all, you're travelling with us! We are going to drag you up those mountains, whether you want it or not." Tara blinked again, this time in surprise. Well, she assumed that she _was_ travelling with them, but it didn't feel like it, what with Thorin acting like he was.

"I think your leader thinks of it differently," she pointed out, but Ori could hear he had succeeded in cheering her up. There was a smile in her voice.

"Maybe, but Thorin's a good person. He's not going to abandon a woman in the mountains all by herself, no matter what he says... I think," he confessed, and Tara couldn't help but giggle.

"Glad you added that, Ori," she teased, making the dwarf chuckle.

And as the two sat, talking back and forth, the sun slowly came up behind the mountains in the horizon. Tara barely remembered to get up and leave Ori's lookout post, before the rest of the company woke up. When Thorin saw her awake, it seemed like she had just completely ruined his prospects at a somewhat good day. Tara thought to herself, as she made faces at Thorin whenever he turned around, that he would've been positively furious, if he had seen her talking with Ori.

More than once, she was tempted to cast an insult his way in Elvish, but she decided against it. No reason to tempt fate. Or his boot clad foot.

* * *

**An anonymous reviewer gave me some pointers – I deleted the review, because I like being able to respond to reviews, so I decided to disable Guest reviews :(**

**But some of the things he/she pointed out was; her magic ability. I will point out that I just said she had an _affinity_ for magic. At this point in time, her abilities are limited to spurring the wind on and manifesting her visions for a limited time as illusions. She can do little beyond that, and I do not know how this person got the idea that she rivaled an Istar o.o Just to be clear, she _doesn't_. Not in the slightest.**

**Second, her hair. Yes, her hair is dyed, and eventually the roots will come out. The reason it hasn't for one and a half year is a spoiler, and one I will guard well. But just to let everyone know I am aware of the fact this happens to her eventually.**

**Third, her visions. The reviewer pointed out that Elrond and Gandalf wouldn't readily agree to her hiding her visions. To this, I will partly agree. Elrond wasn't inclined to agree with her, but in the end he could not force her to share. Gandalf is aware of the fact that she is from another world, as she has told him as much as she dares. Therefore he knows her visions are not godly in nature, and supports her in her decision to not share.**


	7. Scaling a Mountain of Ill Will

**DISCLAIMER!: I do NOT own The Hobbit or Lord of the Rings in any way - Tolkien has that honor. I have written this purely for amusement-purposes, and I receive no credit. On that note; read on.**

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The travelers reached the mountain range within the next two days. The massive hunk of rock towering in front of them made Tara feel strangely at home. For the past one and a half year, she had grown used to the view of a cliff side outside her window, and a mountain felt much more secure than the wide plains they had previously trod.

Apparently her improved mood was clearly visible, as Bilbo smiled at her.

"You like mountains, Tara?" he asked, having grown rather fond of the Seeress. At least enough not to stutter of nervousness when addressing her, and calling her by name. Tara looked at him, nodding.

"Yeah. If feels safe to have a mountain on one side, rather than being exposed like on the plain," she commented, as the company came to a brief halt at the foot of the mountain. Thorin was no doubt trying to find the best way to scale it.

"Indeed it does! Nothin' better than solid rock beneath yer feet," Gloin commented loudly, and Tara couldn't help but laugh at him. He sounded so like his son at that point, though she had to guess she would be turning that around if she ever met the Dwarf. It was strange, thinking that Gloin would become more familiar to her than Gimli. The Hobbit-movies had been relatively new when Tara had come to Middle Earth, while the Lord of the Rings-movies had been rewatched countless times.

"Perhaps excluding solid rock above your head, hm?" she pointed out, making most of the Dwarves agree heartily, until they realized who said it. Tara grinned.

"You don't prefer forests?" Ori asked, confused. Tara shook her head.

"Why would I? I rather like the Greenwood, but I couldn't imagine living there. I've lived in a valley for the past year, seeing a rocky cliff towering above me," she tried to explain.

It was strange how the Dwarves were so very simple in their track of mind, that even her stating that she preferred mountains to forests would give her some points. There had to be a limit to their rivalry with Elves...

"What was it like, living in Rivendell?" Bilbo asked curiously, and though he was the only one who seemed openly interested, Tara could almost _feel_ the Dwarves listening in on them, eager to hear her answer. She tasted her words carefully before releasing them through her lips.

"I liked it. The Elves were kind hosts, and great teachers. The surroundings were beautiful, but I was lacking the privacy. The rooms are very open in Rivendell, so you could rarely be certain that you had a minute for yourself," she confessed with a giggle.

"Not that that seems to have changed much after leaving, eh Kili?" she said loudly, making the Dwarf groan.

"Get over it, already! I didn't even see anything!"

Tara stuck her tongue out at the young Dwarf, as those in the immediate vicinity of her and Kili laughed at the childish behavior.

"This way."

The gruff voice of Thorin woke Tara up, and she sighed deeply, rolling her eyes.

"And just when I thought nothing could destroy my good mood," she commented, making Bilbo frantically try to hide his amusement. She followed Bofur up the small path Thorin and Dwalin had found, and she was fully aware of the glare Thorin gave her. She just looked down at him, making her utmost to ensure he knew how small he was compared to her, and then smiled at him.

"Good day."

She was certain Thorin wanted to give her a good kick somewhere, but she picked up her pace just enough to get out of reach of the ill-tempered Dwarven King. She had never thought a climb could be more relaxing than a hike, so when she seemed to have an easier time getting up the mountain than she had crossing the plains, she began doubting her sanity.

After some time of quiet contemplation, she came to the conclusion that it was due to her constant awareness of where to put her feet, that it seemed easier. At the plains, she just had to focus on moving forward; it had been unbelievably boring, whereas climbing the mountain could almost pass for enjoyable.

She was relieved when she saw some of the Dwarves make the mountain cringe beneath their feet, and that she in turn passed with no trouble. That meant she weighed less than her sturdy companions; a given, but still a pleasant thought. She was a girl, after all.

* * *

After a few hours, they reached the top of the mountain. A few times, they had been forced to climb some passages that were a bit higher than good was. Most of the Dwarves had trouble getting up there, and so Tara would stay behind to ensure they got up without trouble. But when she herself climbed up, more often than not there was no one to help her get up, and she had to jog a bit before she caught up with the Dwarves. Sometimes, she played with the idea that they were dashing away, hoping to leave her behind.

She, of course, knew that at least Ori and Bilbo would never do that. Ori had taken to her, at least enough to warn her when they approached a particularly small area, where her bigger size could be an inconvenience. Bilbo, she knew, thought of her as a respite from the rest of the Company. Bilbo still thought no one wanted him there, apart from Tara, and this made her his conversation partner of choice. Not that Tara minded – it was pleasant to talk rather than think too much.

"How long do you think Thorin is going to have us walk today, Tara?" he asked, and she shrugged, as they clung to the mountain as they slowly scooted along a narrow path.

"I wouldn't know. Thorin is eager to reach Erebor, which I can understand. If Smaug is really gone from his treasure, many will try to take the gold. But most of us are tired too. We won't be of much use to him in that state," she commented. Bilbo nodded, as he jumped the gap between the small edge and the wider path a bit away. It was little more than a big step for Tara to cross, but as she, as usual, waited for the rest of the Dwarves to get past her, she blinked.

Bombur had had some trouble on the edge, as his great body mass had served to pull his gravitational center back towards the steep fall down. He was, as always, the last, and in an effort to not be left behind, he jumped a bit prematurely.

"Bombur, no!" Tara called, a bit too late. The tip of his foot barely grazed the stone Tara stood on, before he was beginning to tip backwards. Tara's hand quickly shot out, grabbing the braided beard Bombur always had on his large chest. Bofur looked back, seeing Tara desperately clinging onto Bombur's beard, as she tried to hoist him back onto the platform, while the fat dwarf's body fought against her.

"You're heavy," she grunted, as she cast a brief glance behind her. "Help me, you fools," she said aloud, and Bofur and Bilbo quickly ran to her side, each grabbing their part of Bombur's beard too, pulling together with her.

That did it.

As Bombur was pulled onto the platform, he fell forwards; instead of falling to his death, he instead ended up squashing his three rescuers under his large body. They all groaned, fighting to get Bombur off of them.

"Bombur, get your fat backside off of us!" Bofur complained, and Bombur hurriedly crawled to the next step, leading them further up the mountain. Tara scrambled up on her feet, rubbing her hands together. She turned around, helping Bilbo onto his feet.

"You okay, Bombur? Sorry about grabbing your beard," she quickly apologized, making the fat dwarf shake it off eagerly.

"N-No problem. Thanks for not droppin' me," he thanked, breathing heavily himself. Tara smiled, scared at how close that had been. She walked to him, patting her shoulder.

"Anytime," she promised, as she helped him onto his feet.

From then on, Bombur would always wait for her and help her up if she needed it. While crossing a remarkably straight patch of rocky surface, almost at the top of the mountain, Bofur approached Tara, who relished the brief break Thorin had given them.

Everyone had chosen their rock to sit on, rubbing their sore feet. Tara was a ways off from the rest of them, trying to keep Thorin as pacified as possible, when Bofur sat down next to her. She looked down at him, smiling.

"What is it, Bofur?" she asked, sensing the Dwarf had something on his mind.

"Why don't you com' sit with me an' the lads?" he offered, making Tara blink.

"Huh?"

"You heard me, com' on, no dilly-dallying," he ordered, as he grabbed her backpack from the ground and stalked back to his former seat, next to his brother and in relatively close vicinity of the rest of the Dwarves. Tara blinked.

"Bofur, wait up," she called, realizing he wasn't giving her a choice, and she quickly followed him. He put her backpack down next to his rock, sitting down again and Tara sighed deeply, smacking her butt down next to it.

"You've got a knack for getting your way, haven't you?" she assumed, leering at the dwarf, who simply laughed, pulling slightly at his weird hat.

"No reason for you to sit all the way over there, lassie," Balin said with a smile, and Tara looked at him. She attempted to smile back, while she sent a glance Thorin's way. Luckily, he was too engrossed in some sort of discussion with Dwalin to have noticed her move... She thought.

Balin noticed where she looked and he put a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry about him," he insisted. "He's just a bit stubborn."

Tara sighed, nodding.

"Aren't we all?" she said with a pointed look at Bofur, who laughed at her accusation.

Tara saw Bombur carefully rub his chin, and her brow furrowed. She leaned forward just a bit, in order to fully catch Bombur's gaze.

"Did it hurt? When I caught you?"

Bombur laughed at her worry, shaking her head.

"Not any more than the fall would've, I should think," he admitted, and Bifur gave him a good box on the head, muttering some incoherent sounds. Tara recalled that he couldn't speak properly, partly due to the axe embedded in his skull. She sighed, resting her head on her knees, which had been pulled to her chest.

"Are you okay, Tara?" Bilbo asked with a worried sound in his voice, and Tara nodded with a smile on her face, though not raising her head from her knees.

"I'm fine, don't worry. Just a bit tired is all," she said, slowly opening her eyes and willing her to sit properly.

"I hope we move soon, or I'll fall asleep sitting here," she said with a laugh in her voice.

As if he had heard her, Thorin soon broke up the rest. As Tara knew, he cast a glance her way, not happy about her seat amongst the others, but she didn't much care. As she was about to pass him, one of the last, he grabbed her arm. She looked down at him, confused, and though he maintained a look on the other Dwarves, moving across the rough surface of the mountain, Tara could see discomfort in his rough features.

"Thank you for grabbing him."

Tara shrugged.

"A company looks out for each other."

"I thought you weren't part of it."

"I thought you didn't want me a part of it."

The two looked at each other, stubbornness in equal measure, and they both smiled the tiniest bit at each other.

"Truce?" Tara asked and Thorin nodded slowly.

"Get going. I'm trusting you to keep an eye on that Hobbit," he pointed out, making Tara grin and salute him.

"As you say, Your Majesty!"

An extra bounce in her step, Tara quickly followed the rest of the Dwarves, happy to have at least reached _some_ kind of companionship from the stubborn Dwarf King. At least, now he would probably stop with his glares.

And that was something to rejoice at, at least.

She slowed her advance when she reached Bilbo, who looked up at her with a confused look in his eyes.

"Did you get into trouble with Thorin?" he asked, and Tara grinned mischievously.

"You know what, Bilbo? I think today might be a good day," she said, tapping Bilbo's shin with the tip of her shoe. The hobbit looked at her, still mildly confused, but then he grinned.

"Glad you think so, Tara."

* * *

**Wheee! :D Finally some warming up action in the Company x)**

**How many of you thought of Gimli when Tara grabbed Bombur's beard? ;) Hope you will look forward to the next chapter :)**

**Reviews are always welcome!**


	8. I Will Never Let You Fall

**DISCLAIMER: Yeah, you know. Don't own 'The Hobbit' - Tolkien does. I've done this for own enjoyment. Hope you'll like the chapter :)**

**Sorry for the late update, as some real life stuff bummed me, so I haven't been in teh mood for updating, at all. Hope you'll understand. But yeah, have fun!**

It was astonishing how much a truce between Thorin and Tara could change the journey for the human girl. When she didn't have Thorin's glares to worry about, it was actually quite enjoyable to be in the company of all the Dwarves. Dwalin was still not inclined to trust her at all, and he and Thorin still didn't talk to her, but the rest of the Dwarves talked to her like they talked to each other. More than often, Bofur would pull the same trick as earlier, take her backpack and seat it near him and the others, whenever Tara followed her habit of resting further from them than good was.

Tara found pleasant company in Dori and Ori, and she was more than eager to listen to Ori reading his journal aloud. He was logging their journey, and she found herself laughing when he eagerly told her of their journey from The Blue Mountains to the Shire, one she knew little of.

"You've got to be kidding! He fell into the water?" she asked, laughing, and Ori nodded repeatedly, having stood up in his excitement at telling the story.

"You better believe he did! Dori had already told Nori to stand still on the ferry, but Nori wanted to show he was more than capable of holding his balance. And as he looked into the shimmering surface of the water, the biggest trout I've ever seen in my life jumped up from the water, and Nori fell, face-first!"

Tara couldn't help but laugh loudly at Ori's very enthusiastic acting when he had to portray his older brother falling into the water at the Bucklebury Ferry, and Nori decided enough was enough. He quickly stood up and began, quite childishly, to brawl with the younger Dwarf.

"How did he get up again?" she asked, wiping away the tears of laughter gathering in the crooks of her eyes. "I can't imagine Nori swimming," she added, as she looked to Dori who was trying to break up the fight between his younger brothers.

"Of course he did not swim. I reached out for him with the paddle, and he grabbed onto it, hoisting himself back onto the ferry," he explained. Again, Tara had to laugh. The idea was simply hilarious!

"We're moving, everyone. Get up," Thorin called, and that was perhaps the best way to break up a Dwarf-brawl. Dori immediately released Nori, whom he had dragged off of Ori, and now held firmly in his grip. It was not for nothing Dori was the strongest of the company – he held Nori so firmly, it was as if he held a rag doll.

Tara smiled as she picked up her backpack, but as soon as the extra weight was added, she felt her eyes begin swimming and her knees buckling.

"Oh no" she whispered.

Bilbo stopped, looking at her.

"Are you all right, Tara?"

This caught all of the Dwarves' attention, and Tara's eyes bolted around, and she blinked once.

"I'm sorry." And then her body felt limb to the ground.

"Tara!"

* * *

_Galadriel._

"_If you ever need me, I will be there."_

_Gandalf was setting out. Thorin is moving as quickly as he can._

_The rock stirs. Blood running down a silver pillar._

* * *

"Has she woken up yet?" Thorin asked. Balin sighed, shaking his head. Tara had been out cold almost an hour. She had seen a few visions while they had been on the run, but she had at most stumbled and then explained that there was no need to worry.

This time was different.

The Hobbit had barely left her side since she fell, and Ori had also stayed seated next to her. Bombur had been frantically running around, bringing her water to drink and splash in her face, trying to get her to wake. Balin sighed, as he once more tried to wake her by spluttering a bit of water onto her closed eyes.

"I don't think that'll work, Bombur," he called.

"She's delaying us, Thorin," Dwalin announced, as he looked up at the sky. The sun was setting, slowly. Thorin sighed, scratching the back of his head. He had just accepted Tara as a part of the company, because she had proven herself capable, so he would not abandon her now. If only she had had this vision yesterday! No, Thorin reminded himself. Even then, he would not be capable of leaving her behind, unprotected.

"Her seizures are beginning again," Bilbo said with a weak voice, as he tried to remove the cold sweat on her brow. Every few minutes, Tara's entire body would begin shaking in uncontrollable spasms, and that was when her muttering began as well.

They didn't understand her mutters. Balin recognized some names in-between, and sometimes she even whispered in the language of Khuzdul, but it was very incoherent sentences. Tara was laying on the rocky ground, her backpack put beneath her head as a pillow and her long, elven cloak draped over her as a blanket. The stones around her served as chairs for many of the others, who could either do that or pace up and down.

Thorin hadn't realized how popular Tara was with his company until now. He had known that the Hobbit liked her, and had expected it, and he knew it was inevitable for Bombur to feel gratitude towards her after she helped him. Yes, even Bifur and Bofur were expected. But it was more than that. Although her personality was vexing at times, the way she would stare at one and then refuse to tell why afterwards was annoying, her stubbornness was childish and her caution was ridiculous... In the end, she was still a good person, he had to admit.

"_Azog_"

Thorin's eyes widened at this murmur.

"_Gorgoth._"

Gorgoth was what the Pale Orc had called his grandfather before cutting off his head, Thorin remembered. What did it mean? He slowly approached Tara, making most of the Dwarves return to their seats. They had tried to keep Tara's body still. Bilbo was still trying, having her hand firmly grasped in both of his, no doubt trying to make her relax.

"Tara."

The woman winced, her head rolling from one side to the other.

"Tara, can you hear me?"

"_Gorhai. Thorin Gorgoth._"

Thorin's jaw tightened. She could, maybe, hear him, but he doubted he could get a coherent answer out of her. He looked up at the sky again, seeing it painted an orange color by the setting sun.

"We need to move. Dori, can you carry her on your back for a while?" he asked. Bilbo widened his eyes.

"What? You can't be seriously thinking about moving her!"

Thorin looked down at him, his eyes harsh.

"We can't stay in one place, Hobbit." Bilbo stood up as well, his eyes stubborn.

"But we don't know if it's safe to move her!"

"We will have to take that risk," Thorin insisted, but Bilbo stamped hard into the ground.

"I won't let you! What if her spasms begins and Dori drops her? What then!?"

The two men both had fire in their eyes. This was the first time Bilbo had stood against Thorin on their journey, and all of the Dwarves knew it had everything to do with the redheaded human on the ground. Before it could turn ugly, Ori stepped forward.

"Bilbo, Tara told me it has been a long time since her visions lasted for much more than two hours, so she will, most likely, wake up soon," he attempted to calm the Hobbit. But he still shook his head. Bofur stepped forwards too.

"How about this, Bilbo? We will carry her for as long as it is safe, and when her spasms come, we can step more in to make sure she stays put, eh? That way it should be good, right?" he pointed out, and Bilbo sighed. It would seem he was in the minority vote here. He looked down at Tara with conflict in his features, and slowly nodded.

"Okay, I suppose."

Dori nodded, and he, Bifur and Dwalin all stepped in, removing the cloak from Tara. Dori turned his back towards them, as the other two grabbed her by the arms and lifted her onto Dori's back. Tara was very light, that was no problem. The problem was in her height, as her head flopped onto Dori's shoulder and her legs had to be bent at the knees in order to not stick too far out.

Bifur put the Elven cloak into the backpack, which he pulled on top of his own on his back, and Dwalin grabbed the rapier from Tara's belt, to ensure it didn't poke Dori by accident.

And so did the journey continue. And more than oft did Thorin gaze backwards, to see Tara in slight spasms on Dori's back, and the little Hobbit patting the part of her back he could reach to try and calm her.

* * *

"Thorin, I think she's waking up!"

A sudden uproar erupted around Tara, and she furrowed her brow at the loud noises. There was a fair bit of yelling involved, along with her body being moved around rapidly. She squirmed when they placed her on a piece of rocky landscape, with more than one pointy edge touching the flesh on her back.

"Tara? Can you hear me?"

A soft voice. He was worried.

"Answer us, woman!"

A gruff voice. But he was also worried, or annoyed, it was so hard to tell.

"Don't yell at her, Thorin, I wouldn't want to wake up like that."

"Yes, you're quite right, Ori."

She heard a lot of laughter at this one comment she made, as she slowly opened her eyes. Her vision was dark at first, but it slowly grew clearer. A deep red sky, a few stars beginning to dot their paths. And as her line of sight expanded, so did her smile. She saw fourteen wonderful short men, all looking at her with some degree of relief or worry in their faces. And directly above her were Thorin and Bilbo. She nodded slightly, as well as she could.

"For how long was I out?" she asked slowly.

"Almost three hours," Bilbo told her. Tara shook her head.

"Can you be a bit more specific?" Balin was her aid.

"According to Ori's toy, you were out for Two hours and forty-two minutes," he shared. Tara blinked. 162 minutes...

"What do those numbers mean?" she muttered under her breath, finding that the coincidence was getting annoying.

"Are you okay, Tara?" Bilbo asked, as Tara slowly fought her way to a sitting position. Bilbo was eager to help her up, and Thorin moved a bit back to give her some space. She slowly nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just some stuff I need to think about, no biggie. Of course, nothing around here is," she added, making some of the Dwarves laugh at her pathetic attempt at a joke. She felt a hand on her shoulder, clapping her, and she looked left to the Dwarven King.

"Since you're well enough to be yapping, I assume you're well enough to be walking," he said gruffly. All the humor in the world was obviously lost on him, Tara thought with a sigh. Bilbo leered at the Dwarf.

"She just woke up! Surely we can afford to give her a moment's rest!"

Tara quickly put one hand on Bilbo's head.

"It's okay, Bilbo. I've been resting for too long, and quite against my will too. I want to move on," she said with a smile, as she got on her feet. Some of the Dwarves scurried around her, ready to catch her if she fell. She smiled, shaking her head.

"I am all right, really. Once the visions pass I am just a healthy young woman, you know," she insisted. She had to practically give some of the Dwarves a good slap on the back, before they walked further ahead of her.

Others were driven forward as soon as she pointed out she was going to fall _because_ they were right in front of her. She needed leg-room.

Bilbo remained at her side no matter how much she insisted she was all right.

"You can't just faint and then expect me to not worry, Tara," he reprimanded, and Tara sighed, nodding. He was right, of course.

"I know, I know. But the facts are that I am fine," she repeated once again.

* * *

Night came much too soon for Tara's liking. She had, of course, been unconscious for the better time of the evening, but she trusted her feet in the dark much less than in the light. The Dwarves did so as well. The group proceeded very slowly on the slippery slopes that night, especially when the rain began falling, turning slippery slopes into practical death traps. More than once, a chain was created by at least five individuals to guide each other across a treacherous passage.

One such chain was created when they began edging their way along the mountain-side. From back to front it went: Bombur, Bifur, Ori, Dwalin, Bilbo, Tara, Bofur, Fili, Kili, Nori, Dori, Balin, Oin, Gloin and Thorin. Tara was amazed the small passage, seemingly sticking out of the mountain at random, could hold all of them.

"Hold on!" Thorin yelled back, and Tara nodded. At some points, there was large pieces of rock sticking out where Tara had to bend to get under. At those times, she cursed gravity for threatening to pull her down into the abyss beneath them.

Not ten seconds had passed after Thorin's yell, before some of the rocks behind Tara came loose, and her arm instinctively shot out, grabbing Bilbo's jacket. She and Dwalin hoisted the Hobbit back onto the path, him nodding gratefully at them.

"Thorin, we have to find shelter!" she screamed above the storm, and thanks to her bright voice, it was clearly audible.

"Can't your visions give you something useful, like where there is a cave?" Gloin yelled back, and Tara groaned loudly.

"What bright ideas you have, Gloin! Let me just pass out on the spot, and I'll tell you when we're all dead!" she screamed back, the biting cold wind puncturing her skin like needles. She really wasn't in the mood for clever comebacks from the Dwarves.

"Look out!" Dwalin yelled, and they all looked up, just in time to see a huge boulder flying towards them. They all hugged the mountain for their dear life, trying to make themselves as small as possible as the boulder tore apart the mountain, making a hailstorm of pebbles and some slightly larger stones tumble down over them.

"This is no thunderstorm!" they heard Balin yell further ahead. "It's a thunder battle!"

"Look!" Bofur called, pointing out into the distance. And as they all looked in that general direction, they saw one of the mountains _standing up_. "The legends are true! Giants! _Stone_ giants!"

"You've got to be kidding me!" Tara couldn't help but exclaim, as a giant shape also retracted out of the mountain from behind them. A huge boulder, thrown by one boulder to the other, made the entire mountain shake, and Thorin looked back, seeing most of them standing dangerously close to the edge.

"Take cover, you fools!" he yelled, and Tara quickly grabbed Bofur, dragging him back to the cliff where she could hide her face in his hat. The rocks were breaking apart from beneath their feet. Tara blinked when she felt tremors in the wall she stood so close to, and a brief look in front of her showed the mountain was splitting.

"Kili, look out!" she yelled, as a gap was created between the legs of the young Dwarf. He barely got himself away from the gap before it became too wide, but Tara reached across the Dwarves at her side, and grabbed Fili's coat tightly.

"You'll never make it," she yelled, as she knew he wanted to jump to his brother. She thanked her longer reach when she felt the mountain make an absurd movement, and she pinned the Dwarves to her right into the mountain.

Scratch that... The Stone Giant.

When they all looked up, they saw that they had been standing on the legs of a seated Stone Giant all along. Now that the giant had woken up, it had split its legs in an effort to stand up. Equally dividing the group onto the two legs.

As the wind whipped Tara's wet hair around her face, the stone giant moved its legs, making it so very hard to stay pinned against it. As it would seem, a fist fight had erupted amongst the Stone Giants, and the Giant that the company had been forced to take residence on just so happened to be the weakest link. And every time he was hit by a rock or slapped over the face, then came an avalanche of large boulders tumbling down.

"Dwalin, grab Ori and tell Bifur to hold onto Bombur!" Tara screamed as loudly as she could, and as this really wasn't a moment to be petty, Dwalin obliged. Tara herself grabbed Bilbo, holding him as close to her as she could, as her other arm held Fili and Bofur into the mountain.

The Stone Giant began falling after an uppercut from its foe, and Tara screamed. The leg they were on passed the piece of solid mountain the other group had gotten themselves to, and as they watched, the leg Tara and the others were standing on crashed into the mountain a bit further ahead of them.

Tara had never gotten quite as tumbled as she had at that moment. She almost swore that was what it would be like to be put in a tumble dryer. Her head banged against solid rock, and her arm reacted by becoming limb for a few seconds. Long enough for the hobbit she had held close to disappear from her grip.

As she heard the others desperate calls for them, she blinked rapidly, trying to find everyone. Her hand still had a firm grip on Fili's coat, and Bombur's stomach was pinning her leg down. Bofur was sprawled out on the ground next to Fili, and Dwalin was helping Ori on his feet. Everyone was there...

Everyone but Bilbo.

"Bilbo! Where is he!?" Tara screamed, making everyone look around. In the chaos, no one had seen where the Hobbit had fallen to. A brief glance down from the edge made them aware of his location. He was dangling from the edge. Dwalin was the first to jump, trying to grab Bilbo's hand before it was too late.

He slipped.

"NO!"

Tara got up on her feet as Bofur joined Dwalin on the ground, reaching down for Bilbo.

"Grab my hand!"

Thorin took matters in his own hands, when it seemed as though Bilbo wasn't able to reach up to the other Dwarves. He jumped down from the edge, with one hand holding onto it, as he grabbed Bilbo's jacket forcefully and threw him up to the others.

The next happened in slow-motion.

Tara saw Thorin's fingers slipping on the wet rock, and she felt her legs contract as she jumped forward. Both her arms shot forward, grabbing the Dwarf King's hand in her own, but that, of course, left her with no hand to grab the edge with. As soon as she realized her error, she and Thorin was already falling from the cliff. She released one of her hands from his, grabbing anything that could support them on the mountainside.

And when gravity was hindered by her arm, a painful _plop_ sounded in her ears and she screamed. Thorin was dangling from her one arm, while her other held them both up.

"Oh great! I think I just dislocated my shoulder," she said loudly, tears pouring into her eyes.

"Don't drop me!" Thorin yelled, and if it wasn't because of the severe pain in her shoulder, she would've laughed. As if she would drop him!

"I won't! I will never let you fall!" she called back, trying both to assure him and convince herself. She needed to endure this, although the pain was excruciating. She had only once tried to break a bone, and she couldn't remember it. The rest of her injuries had been minor – nothing to describe the pain of hanging in an arm on a dislocated shoulder, while keeping your own weight, give or take 100 kilo extra, suspended on a mountainside.

They were a bit over a meter from the others, Tara thought, as she could hear them screaming for both her and Thorin. She groaned as she tried to pull with her other hand, get Thorin as close to the others as she could. But she just wasn't strong enough. She stopped her struggle, causing Thorin to fall down again. She gritted her teeth together.

"I won't drop you!" she yelled. "Even if it kills me!"

Thorin looked up, wide eyes, at the only thing holding him on that mountain at that moment. He could see her face growing paler, as her one hand clung onto a little piece of cliff so hard that her knuckles were white. Her blood red hair was drenched from the water and stuck to her face, and he was fairly certain that tears were mixed in with the rain on her face.

And for all her Elven gowns and happy smiles, in Thorin's eyes, she had never been more beautiful.

"Grab this!"

Both of them looked up to see that Dwalin had lowered Tara's elven cloak down as a rope. Thorin couldn't quite reach it, but Tara took a deep breath.

"Here goes!"

And then she pulled with all her might. With a loud gasp, Thorin grabbed a fistful of the cloak in his hand, and Tara smiled relieved.

Then, the piece of rock she had been holding on to decided enough was enough. It came loose and plunged into the abyss, and Tara almost followed it, had Thorin not failed to let go of her hand. The roles were reversed as she hang from his arm, and everyone on the edge began pulling up the cloak, as was it truly a rope.

After a few moments of struggle, Thorin and Tara came onto the edge again, and Tara decided now was an okay time to begin sobbing. Her shoulder hurt like hell, and she could barely hear that someone had found a cave further ahead.

Someone picked her up and quickly carried her off somewhere. When the absence of rain hitting her face became apparent, she realized they had gone into the cave that had been found. She was carefully seated against the cave wall, as Thorin asked Dwalin to check the cave. Mountain Caves were rarely unoccupied. Then she felt hands all over her, checking for injuries.

"The skin on her fingers have been ripped by the rocks," one voice identified, and another accidentally pulled at her arm, causing her to shriek. She fought her eyes open, seeing it had been Bifur who had moved her arm. She smiled, though she felt like it took too much energy to do so.

"I think I dislocated my shoulder when grabbing Thorin," she explained, and Bifur nodded, muttering something incoherent. When Tara just shook her head, indicating she didn't know what he said, he left her side, no doubt attempting to find someone else to help her. She blinked when she saw a bald head. Dwalin?

"This'll hurt a bit, lass," he warned, and Tara smiled humorlessly.

"Probably won't kill me though," she replied, making the dwarf chuckle, equally derived of humor, before popping her shoulder back in place. Tara barely had the chance to say 'thanks' before she passed out from the pain.


	9. A Night of Truths and Doubts

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own "The Hobbit" or "The Lord of the Rings" in any way, that honor is Tolkien's. I have written this purely for own enjoyment, and receives no credits at all. Rather, I hope that all of you will enjoy it :) Thank you very much for all of your kind reviews.**

**I am proud to announce the results of the vote so far; Thorin is in the lead with 9 votes, then Bilbo with 5 and then Aragorn with 3. Others who have also received votes are Legolas, Kili and Frodo. Read on!**

* * *

"Tara? Tara, wake up."

Her eyes fluttered slightly as an answer to the request, and as her eyes slowly opened, a toothy smile met her.

"Hey everyone, she woke up!"

Soft laughter reached her ears, and the light from the lantern near her was gentle on her eyes. She slowly focused her gaze on the person in front of her. It was Ori. She smiled gently, nodding in recognition.

"Ori," she croaked, her throat feeling awfully sore. Her brow was knit together in thought, wondering why her voice sounded like that. As flashes of the ordeals from that night came back to her, she blinked. Ah, it was probably because of all the screaming.

Another flash of memory came back to her, and she widened her eyes.

"Thorin!?"

She looked around for a few seconds, locating the Dwarf in question sitting on a rock a bit further on her left. She breathed out in relief, letting the back of her head rest against the wall.

"You saved him, lass. Don't worry, everyone is quite safe," Balin said with a soothing voice, and Tara smiled, relieved. That was good to hear.

"How are you feeling, Tara? Does your arm still hurt?" The concerned voice of Bilbo came from her right, and she looked at him with a small smile, trying to move her arm. It felt stiff and a dull pain throbbed in it, but it didn't qualify as the same pain from before.

"I'll live. As to how I am, I am starving and could kill for some mead," she shared, making most of the Dwarves laugh loudly.

"I know just how you feel, lass," Gloin admitted. "The food we can help you with, but you need to settle for water rather than mead," he said, throwing his water skin to her. She caught it with her left hand, nodding in gratitude. She didn't trust her right arm at that moment.

She carefully took a sip of the water, marveling at the way the water seemed to fill out the dry cracks in her throat. After clearing her throat, attempting to even it out and remove the uncomfortable feeling of splinters in the side of it, she threw the skin back to Gloin.

"You' okay, Bilbo?" she asked, her blue eyes searching for the Hobbit. He was sitting next to her, his curls sticking to his head, and he slowly nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine. A bit tired, but its fine. Everything's fine. Just fine, yes," he rambled, and Tara put a finger to his lips with a smile.

"You just said fine four times in a row, Bilbo," she teased him, and the Hobbit laughed a bit.

Bilbo didn't think he'd ever been that afraid in his life. After being pulled up from the edge by Thorin, he had barely seen Tara disappearing out of view through the crook of his eye, and then it had been chaos. He had seen Tara's eyes fill up with tears when her arm had given in, he had feared for her life when the rock she had held on to came loose. And then he had sat by her side the past half hour, the time it took for her to wake up again after Dwalin had put her shoulder in its place.

Most of the Dwarves were already made for sleep, but none of them had wanted to actually go to sleep before Tara woke up.

Now that _that_ had been taken care of, they all laid down, trying to get some good shuteye before they had to be on the move again. Bilbo blinked, still looking at Tara. She smiled at him, carefully lifting her right arm and winking at him.

"I'll be all right, don't worry. Go and get some sleep; it will be a long day tomorrow," she comforted him, and he went to a free spot after one quick glance at her again. She smiled as the Hobbit laid down, slowly putting down her arm again. Ori laid down next to her; the only reason Bilbo hadn't chosen that spot had, apparently, been because Ori had laid claim on it first. And there was no room on her left, as a rather strange rock formation was sticking out. The closest area worthy of mentioning for sleeping purposes on her left side, was the rock Thorin had claimed for himself.

"Thank you."

Tara blinked, looking to her right. It was Ori who had spoken, and he smiled up at her, his brown eyes closed already.

"For what?"

"If you hadn't told Dwalin to keep ahold of me, I doubt I would've been able to stay put on that stone giant," he admitted, and Tara smiled.

"Of course you would, don't be silly," she scolded, giving the young dwarf a quick flick on his forehead. He furrowed his brow at the pain, which he had not seen coming for obvious reasons, and he looked up at her with a sulk. She smiled back at him.

"You're stronger than you think, Ori. You might not be the greatest warrior amongst us, but your strengths lie somewhere else entirely," she comforted him, and he blinked. After a while, he smiled, nodding.

"I am glad you came along, Tara."

Tara felt her heart swell at the kind words and she nodded at him.

"So am I, Ori."

Not three minutes after that, the Dwarf was asleep. Tara herself found it hard to sleep. She had already had three hours more rest than the others that day, and even if that wasn't a good enough reason, she was afraid to sleep.

Seeing the Stone Giants on a movie screen had been unsettling enough back then, but actually being there had left her on edge. Whenever she closed her eyes, snippets of the event would jump out from her mind, and scare her.

And to top of it off, she was sitting up. She was that much taller than the Dwarves, so she had to compromise herself as much as possible, but sitting upright was ridiculous. She looked around herself, trying to find a way she could lay more comfortably.

"Can't sleep?"

The voice was Thorin's, and when Tara looked to him, she could see the glistening of the dying lantern in his dark eyes. She smiled timidly, shrugging, and immediately regretting it, when her sore shoulder let her know what an idiot she was for doing that. She hissed quietly as a response, before shaking her head.

"Not quite. Can I complain?"

A brief sigh was heard, before Thorin nodded. He knew it had to come at some point.

"My shoulder hurts and I terrified."

Silence ensued for a few moments, before she heard a low rumble. She furrowed her brow. What was that sound?

"That's all?" She blinked in confusion at Thorin's question.

"I am not used to-"she began, but Thorin quickly interrupted her.

"No, I meant; is that all you have to complain about?"

Tara leaned slightly forward, in order to get a better look at the Dwarf King. He was looking her way with a look on his face she hadn't seen before, at least not while she had _known_ him. He looked like he was having fun.

"Well, I am certain I could find some more, if you want me to," she teased. That weird rumble came again, and she looked around her to try and identify it.

"What is that sound?" she asked, making Thorin blink and look around himself, trying to locate the sound she was talking about. Of course, it was gone now.

"What sound?"

Tara hummed slowly, trying to create the sound again. And just as she thought he hadn't heard it, it came again. This time, she was looking at him, and she saw the smile on his face.

"Hey! You're laughing!" she said, astounded, and he raised a dark eyebrow, obviously not comfortable with her tone, as the smile disappeared from his face once more.

"What of it?"

Tara giggled when she thought of last she heard him say that. It seemed like a lifetime ago they left Rivendell, and she shrugged, only with one shoulder this time.

"I've just never heard that sound before," she explained, looking away from him.

"Hm."

Silence dawned on the two, as they listened to the quite noisy snoring of the rest of the group. And just when Tara thought the Dwarf had gone to sleep, she heard his voice again.

"Thank you for catching me."

She smiled.

"Thank you for not leaving me behind when I had my vision."

He widened his eyes, looking behind. She was smiling at him, her blue eyes glowing in a mischievous way. Thorin felt an uncomfortable pinching in his stomach at the sight, but dismissed it as hunger.

"You knew?"

"No, I had an inkling. But you just confirmed my suspicions," she teased, making Thorin sigh.

"Well played, human," he admitted, causing Tara to send a mock-bow his way.

"Why thank you, _Dwarf_." She stressed her mention of his race, and Thorin was quite sure he had a good idea why.

"I wouldn't leave you behind after you rescued Bombur," he commented, making Tara smile.

"You wouldn't have left me anyways. Leaving a woman, unconscious and unprotected, in the mountains is not the way you do things," she reminded him, and he sighed. She bit her lip.

"Sorry. I forgot you don't like it when I do that," she apologized. Thorin looked out on the sleeping figures of his company. It was unsettling when Tara spoke like that, like she knew them better than they knew themselves, but that was not why he had sighed. It was the fact that she was absolutely right that had hit home. He could never have done so to her.

"You're right. I probably wouldn't have done it. But I wanted to, for a time," he said. Tara giggled.

"I can just imagine. Having me tag along wasn't exactly the way you planned to leave Rivendell, was it?"

"No, it was not."

For a while, none of them spoke. Tara was laying down, just about ready to fall asleep, when she heard a silent confession from Thorin.

"But I am glad you came with us."

She smiled, her heart feeling fluttery all of a sudden, and she closed her eyes to fall asleep.

"Thank you."

* * *

She didn't feel like she had been sleeping for very long before hushed voices woke her up.

"You're homesick, I understand!"

Her eyes jumped open, as she slowly sat up.

"No! No, that's it! You don't, you don't understand, you're Dwarves! You're used to _this_ life, the life on the road, never staying in one place, never _belonging_ anywhere."

Silence followed his rant, and Tara sighed, shaking her head.

"Look, I'm sorry, I shouldn't hav-"

"No, you're right. We don't belong anywhere."

Tara couldn't deal with it, and she slowly inched herself forward, whipping her tongue against her teeth to create sounds.

"Shut up, both of you," she whispered, making Bofur and Bilbo jump, as they looked back to her. She smiled, shaking her head.

"You leaving, Bilbo?" she asked, blinking innocently. She remembered this scene from the movie all too well; it had always made her heart clench. Bilbo slowly nodded.

"Yeah. We all know I'm just a burden here," he slowly said, and Tara shook her head.

"You're no more a burden than I am, Bilbo," she scolded, and the Hobbit looked up at her.

"But that's it, Tara. We should never have come. We are slowing them down, we are putting their lives in danger... We don't belong here," he said. He didn't know how much his sentence hit home.

"We don't belong here," she muttered, looking around. She didn't belong in Middle Earth at all, no matter how many years she spent there. Bilbo slowly nodded.

"I am going back home before I lose my way. You could... Come with me?"

Tara smiled. Go back to Rivendell, maybe even go with Bilbo to see the Shire. She had always wanted to see it. The little creeks, the soft hills. She had always wanted to enter a Hobbit Hole, maybe even bump her head against one of the chandeliers.

"Tempting," she admitted.

Her eyes slowly drifted around the Dwarves, as she thought of Bilbo's proposition. A tug on her arm made her look down, and she saw Ori laying closely against her, one arm wrapped around hers. She smiled, carefully removing on of his reddish braids from his face.

"I can't leave."

Bilbo smiled sadly. Tara looked up at him, smiling the very same smile to him.

"I went on this adventure of my own, for my own reasons. And so did you, that day, when you ran out of Bag End, even in such a rush that you forgot your handkerchief. Have you forgotten why you came along?" she asked. Bilbo looked down on the cave floor, full of thought. His reasons for going with the Dwarves? He had just wanted to see what was beyond the Shire, see Elves, mountains and wide plains. He had seen all that...

Wasn't his purpose for joining the company fulfilled?

"Hey, Bilbo, yer sword," Bofur said in confusion, and Tara blinked. She stared at the blue light coming from Bilbo's dagger, along with the hobbit, who pulled it up, showing off the shine. Tara saw Thorin's head slowly raise from his sleeping spot, and the sound of sand shuffling.

"Oh no, no no no!" Tara whimpered, looking around.

* * *

**Yeah, everyone knows what's about to happen now, right? X)**

**Hope you liked Tara's night :P I personally adored writing this, because it shows off both her budding friendship with Thorin and the connection between her and Bilbo. I tried my best to keep this chapter as neutral as possible, as the vote is still going x) But I was allowed to make a little Thora-action, as I very much doubt Thorin will not be in the top 3 at this rate x)**

**Well, see you next time everyone!**


	10. Fleeing Goblin Town

**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings or any other part of the franchise, nor do I own any characters besides my OCs.**

"Everyone, wake up!" Thorin called, easily waking up the sleeping Dwarves. But barely had they moved from their sleeping positions before the floor gave in beneath them, and they all fell into the dark. Tara tried, as best possible, to stay close to some of the Dwarves on their sliding down the weird slope they fell onto, and this involved her looking frantically around. Ori was closest to her, then came Thorin. The darkness kept her from making out anyone else clearly.

Soon, they all landed in a huge pile in what looked like a landing area for the trap. She landed on top of some of the others, and she suddenly felt grateful for coincidences when she heard the groaning of whatever poor soul Bombur had landed on.

The gratitude, however, wore thin when she heard a noise, rapidly getting louder. It was a horde of Goblins, which soon swept over the company, dragging them on their feet. It was a flurry of feet, claws and ugly faces, as the goblins dragged everyone to their feet and began dragging them along. More than once, Tara was screaming at the random goblin to get their claws out of her hair, and though she towered above the goblin horde, she did not have the strength to defy them when they began pulling. It was demoralizing to see even Bilbo made more resistance than she could.

Or was it Bilbo? When Tara looked back, she couldn't find the Hobbit anywhere. She didn't have much time to think on where he could've gotten to, as she was pushed forward again, but this time she fell, due to the surprise.

"Ow! Watch it," she yelled, as the Goblins relentlessly pushed her forward, not caring if she was being dragged and pulled by the masses, or walked on her own. When the sounds of the ruckus suddenly rang louder and more spacious, Tara looked up, astonished at the size of Goblin Town. It had looked huge in the movie, but being there, once again, made her realize that the movies didn't do the world of Middle Earth any justice.

The Dwarves and she were pushed onto the platform where the Goblin King was seated, and if there was ever a time Tara wished she was the same height as everyone else, this would be it. The Goblins began disarming everyone, and Tara felt strangely naked without her rapier in her belt when the turn came to her. But then she had to remind herself that she could, at the very least, try to cast some magic that could help them, should the need arise. She really should begin to use the resting periods to train her abilities, rather than rest.

"Who would be so bold as to come armed into my kingdom?" a voice asked, and as the Goblins backed off, so they merely surrounded the group, Tara slowly pushed the others out of the way, letting herself get closer to the edge of the group. And because of her height, the Goblin King saw her right away. And her hair.

"A woman with hair like blood and eyes like ice?" he asked with an interested shimmer in his wide eyes. Tara reached the edge of the group, as she spread her arms to shield the Dwarves as much as possible. She knew she couldn't hide herself, so she had better use it to her advantage. And as she glared at the Goblin King, he was busy snickering like a child.

"I do believe we caught ourselves the renowned Seeress of Rivendell!" he called out, making all the goblins cheer from their alcoves and balconies, safely away from the platform. The Goblin King stepped closer to her, the stench coming off him causing her to taste bile in her mouth.

"There's a hefty prize on your head, you know?" he asked with a grin. Tara wrinkled her nose.

"I just imagine there is. Every filthy Orc Chieftain out there must be wanting to have me out of the way by now," she spat, causing the Goblin King to laugh.

"Indeed they are. But first things first; what are you doing in these parts, with a band of Dwarves as your companions?"

There was silence. Tara stared defiantly at the Goblin King, mirroring the very expression donned by all of the Dwarves. The Goblin King was, unfortunately, not known for his patience.

"Very well – if they will not talk, we will make them squawk!" This caused great excitement to spread amongst all the Goblins away from the platform.

"Bring out the Mangler! Bring out the Bonebreaker!"

Tara could only imagine 'Mangler' and 'Bonebreaker' were nicknames for some hobgoblins of some kind. But that wasn't what made a chill go down her spine. It was what he said next. He pointed one of his large, chubby fingers on her.

"Start with the woman."

Hell ensued. Goblins ran ahead, grabbing Tara by her waist and wrists, and began pulling her away from the group. Tara panicked. She felt the adrenaline course through her veins, as she turned around, reaching out for the Dwarves who were fighting equally to get ahold of her.

"Wait!"

That yell, filled with authority, made both the Dwarves and the Goblins stop squirming, and Thorin stepped out from the middle of the group, making his way to the front. The Goblin King grinned so wide, Tara thought his face would crack. And as everyone stared at Thorin, Tara felt herself being yanked back, and she quickly followed the pull.

When she reached the one who had pulled, she realized it had been Kili. He had a firm grab on her wrist, as he stared at what was happening in front of him. She put her free hand on his, patting it slowly.

"Well well well, look who it is! Thorin, son of Thrain, son of Thror; King Under the Mountain," he greeted, while performing a mock bow. It was enough to make Tara's face contort with anger. Had she only her rapier in hand... She clenched her hands tightly together, glaring at the Goblin King in a manner she assumed was much alike Thorin's usual glare when something didn't go his way.

"Oh! But I'm forgetting; you don't have a mountain, and you are not a king, which makes you; _nobody_, really."

Tara could tell the Goblin's words hit Thorin where it hurt. Being spoken to like that, by a _Goblin_ of all things, would probably do that to a person with Thorin's pride. Suddenly, the Goblin King seemed to remember something, which put him in an eerily good mood.

"I know someone who would pay a pretty price for your head," he described. "Just the head. Nothing attached."

Tara and the rest of the Dwarves made uneasy movements where they stood, evidently all ready to throw themselves in the way if that nasty Goblin tried any funny business.

"Perhaps, you know of whom I speak? An old enemy of yours," he lured. At this point, Thorin was glaring at the Goblin King with all the animosity he could muster – and that was a whole freakin' lot. Tara had never seen glares like Thorin's before.

"A Pale Orc, astride a white Warg!"

"Azog the Defiler was destroyed," Thorin snarled with anger in his voice. It was annoying how everyone seemed intent at reminding him of his old enemy. First Balin has to tell the story to the company, then Tara has to mutter the name in her sleep and now this? "He was slain in battle long ago!"

Tara blinked. Thorin's voice was filled with emotion, his grief at the returning memories in his head almost overpowering him. She inched closer, grabbing the Dwarf King's elbow with her fingers, to try and soothe him. She didn't know if he noticed though, he was shaking so hard with contained fury, which she doubted he even felt her fingers digging into the cloth of his cloak.

"So you think his defiling days are done, do you?" the Goblin King asked with scorn in his voice, before sending his scribe off with a message to Azog, saying they had the Dwarf King's head. And while they waited for reply, the most horrible song was sung. Tara didn't even care to listen for the lyrics, the Goblin King was obviously lacking severely in talent.

It was actually quite peaceful for a time, although it didn't help Tara's nerves. The goblins all around her were good cause to stay alert. And then, one of the Goblin's did something _incredibly_ stupid. They were looking at the weapons taken from Tara and the Dwarves, and one of them just _had_ to pull Thorin's blade out of its sheath.

If it wasn't because Tara was frightened by the sudden uproar all around her, she would've laughed at the manner with which the Goblin King jumped onto his throne, like a woman who'd seen a spider.

"I know that sword; It is the Goblin Cleaver; the Biter! The Blade that slit a thousand necks! Slice them, Kill them! Kill them all!"

The Goblins began pulling at all of the Dwarves, ready to slit their throats. Bloody Goblins! Tara was just about ready to scream at them, when she saw a Goblin pinning Thorin down.

"Cut off his head!"

Tara screamed.

"NO!"

A sudden shockwave of light blew across their bodies. Everyone fell onto the ground, paralyzed at the lack of light.

"Take up arms. Fight."

Tara blinked at the voice of her teacher, as she slowly fought her way onto her elbows, looking up as the light came back to Goblin Town. It _was_ Gandalf. She was just about to smile, when her eyes widened. For behind Gandalf, hiding her fair head behind his robes, was an all too familiar face. Tara's eyes almost filled with tears.

"Dieena?" she croaked.

"Tara, watch out!" she screamed, and Tara turned around, seeing the Goblins getting up.

"Fight!" Gandalf fought once more, and Tara quickly grabbed after any weapon she could get. It was Orcrist that first touched her fingers, and she used it to slash at the Goblin that was keeping Kili pinned down. A chaos erupted, as she threw the sword to Thorin and quickly proceeded to pick up her own rapier. Her arm muscles weren't exactly used to wielding large swords like Orcrist.

"He wields the Foe Hammer!" the Goblin King shrieked in fear. "The Beater! Bright as Daylight!"

Tara saw Bombur grabbing his mace that was thrown at him, as he used his impressive tummy to send some Goblings flying over the Edge. Tara looked to her side, seeing the Goblin King ready to throw a hit against Thorin. She threw out her free hand, a shockwave pushing him back. It was nothing like the wave Gandalf had thrown, of course, but it was a shockwave, and it had done it's purpose.

Thorin turned to look at Tara, who just shrugged.

"I was getting tired of hearing his voice."

She could've sworn she saw Thorin smirk at this comment, but she was a bit busy with cutting down her share of the Goblins. She had never used her swordsmanship before, but she assumed it was as good a time as any to being learning. Not to say it went brilliantly. Tara had to accept her back was covered by some of the Dwarves, and once or twice, Goblins got too close for comfort, and Tara beat them away with a good, healthy dose of magic.

"Follow me!" she heard Gandalf yell, and she quickly moved to him. She used her free hand to grab Dieena's, and her friend eagerly followed her.

"I thought I told Ceoren to keep you in Rivendell," she called, as she slashed out for a Goblin that had grabbed Dieena's travelling cloak. Dieena was clinging to Tara's hand as they ran. Gandalf led the tunneling row of Dwarves, and Tara was painfully aware of the Goblins trying to get ahold of them from every direction.

"Run!" Gandalf called, and Tara had really wished she had the lung capacity to both fight, flee _and_ come with a snappy comeback. Unfortunately, she only had air for two, so the retorts would have to wait.

"Why are we slowing down?" Dieena panicked, and Tara looked over the heads of the Dwarves, which wasn't too hard, and saw Dwalin kind of occupied with cutting off Goblin heads. She groaned.

"Enemies in the front too. Stick close to me," she said, as she turned around to look behind. Everyone was doing all right for their own, but there were simply too many Goblins. They had to keep moving. She looked around, frantically, before she had a thought. In hindsight, it was probably a mix of her subconsciously remembering the movie and her just being plain brilliant. She called forward to Dwalin.

"Cut the railing loose!" And as she and Dwalin cut the ropes of the wooden beam, four or five of the front Dwarves picked up the thick beam, and began using it as a sweeper, knocking entire groups of Goblins into the abyss at once. They were moving forwards once again.

When the way ahead was more or less cleared of goblins, the Dwarves dropped the pillar again, and the group was charging ahead.

When you were caught in the middle of a Goblin Fortress, there was no better company to be in that the company of thirteen Dwarves and a Wizard. As they fought their way over another wooden gangway, she saw Bombur easily tipping a Goblin over the edge, ruining a gangway further down and diminishing the Goblin ranks by a healthy margin.

When they arrived at a platform on the other side, she saw Thorin easily dispatching four Goblins, and she couldn't help but giggle like a maniac. If it wasn't because she was panicking and frightened, she would've thought it was impressive. But just like with retorts, compliments would have to wait as well. If she even remembered to give them. If so, every single one of these Dwarves deserved kisses! Balin showed exactly what great a warrior he had been in his youth, as he displayed his capability of being a one-man army against the Goblins that were charging him from many sides, and Oin was using a wooden pole as some kind of beating stick, as he twirled around himself, never letting the Goblins closer to him than three feet.

But the Goblins were jumping down upon them from above.

"Tara!" She blinked, leaning a bit to the side to see Thorin searching for her with his eyes. When they looked at each other, he nodded.

"Cut the ropes!"

She smirked, nodding, as she let her rapier easily cut through the thick ropes holding the upper gangway parallel to the one they were on. And as they saw the Goblins on the upper gangway creating momentum, the gangway sailed away from them like a huge swing, intercepting the Goblins who were using long ropes to sail through the air down to them.

It looked quite humorous.

While Tara and Thorin had dispatched of the problem of Goblins from above, Kili had fought his way to the front of the line. Now Goblins were charging at them with BOWS! Kili blocked a few of them with his sword, surprising himself with his skill, before he grabbed a ladder next to him, and used that as a shield instead. And when the Goblins came close enough, he lowered it just enough to catch their heads between the steps and they began moving, using the ladder and said captured Goblin bodies as a barrier.

Lucky they did that, it would seem, as part of the gangway further ahead was gone, and the ladder just happened to be long enough to create a means of getting across. The problem was not falling through the holes, one problem Dieena unfortunately had not foreseen. Tara felt her arm yanked down by Dieena, whose leg had fallen through the hole, and as Tara tried to pull her friend up, she was quite uncapable of protecting herself.

Gloin, however, was her hero in shining armor, as he quickly swung his enormous battle axe and swept away enough Goblins to give Tara a bit of space. Soon, Dieena was up and they were all on the move again. For some reason, Fili came jumping down to them from above, and Tara found herself wondering just how he got up there in the first place. She should try and remember to ask him.

They now moved onto yet another part of a broken gangway. This time the gap was a bit too wise to be crossed with a ladder, but Kili already had it covered. Tara wished he hadn't. He cut the robes holding the gangway in place, and soon they were in midair. Dieena screamed, and Tara patted her back. It was ten times worse than being on a ship.

This is why Tara was among the first to throw herself off of the platform when it reached the other side of the gap, and Dieena fell with her. Not all got off of the platform in time though, and the next time it swung to their side, Goblins were on it as well. Fili cut the last rope, barely remembering to grab Nori who was the last off, as the Goblins plunged into darkness.

Now Tara was in the front, and she sent Dieena a bit back, with the gruff message to Dwalin that if anything happened to Dieena, she would have his hide.

The sheer amount of Goblins was overwhelming, and as Dwalin and Tara fell the Goblins in front of them, so did the other Dwarves have their share of problems with Goblins from the sides and from behind. At least, they were now away from the confusing and chaotic gangways of the town, and instead following the cave wall further down into the cavesystem below. Gandalf smacked his staff against the cave loft, making a huge boulder pop out of place. This would serve as an excellent Goblin Masher.

More chaotic Goblin Cleaving ensued, with Tara seeking back towards the middle of the line. The group soon arrived at another gangway. What made this gangway different was that the Goblin King suddenly broke through its wood, standing in his full size.

This brought the entire company to a halt, caught as a flea between two nails; the goblin army behind them and the king in front of them.

Tara groaned annoyed.

"I thought I'd killed that ugly son of an Orc!" she complained.

"You thought you could escape me?" the Goblin King asked, as he threw down a powerful bash with his mace against Gandalf, who blocked with his staff. The blunt force of the hits send Gandalf back into the Dwarves, who barely held him upright.

"What are you gonna do now, Wizard?" he asked with a gloating look on his face. Gandalf stood up, thrusting his staff into the eye of the large Goblin, and then slashing his stomach. The Goblin King fell onto his knees, looking wildly around him.

"That'll do it," he admitted, as Gandalf slit his throat with one last swing of the sword. The Goblin King fell dead on the gangway. But now he was dead weight. And weight and rickety gangways do not go hand in hand in any circumstances.

The gangway broke itself loose, and soon they were surfing down the cliff side. Some of the Dwarves had fallen through the first layer of the Gangway, now standing on the lower level of it. Dieena was clutching herself to Tara's chest, and Tara was busy keeping her balance equally distributed.

And as the gap between the two sides of the cliff grew narrower, so did the gangway slow in speed. They reached the bottom with a harsh shudder, causing Tara to fell onto her knees, Dieena following her suit. The silence following the chaotic battle was ringing in Tara's ears, and she heard the Dwarves groan at the weight of the layers of gangway, and possibly other Dwarves, on top of them.

As Gandalf got up from his layer of dust and broken wood, Tara blinked at Bofur's comment.

"Well, that could've been worse."

"Oh no! Dieena, jump!"

And barely had the two women gotten off the gangway, before the heavy corpse of the Goblin King came thundering down upon the pile of Dwarf and Wood. Tara slowly got to her feet, chuckling shakily, as the Dwarves complained.

"You've got to be joking!" Kili managed to groan.

"How did you know that, _Ainuhe?_" Dieena asked, her voice shaking with fright.

"Whenever somebody says something could get worse, it usually does. The world has a sense of humor," she explained, as she began pulling one Dwarf after the other out from the chaos. And while she helped Bombur out, she heard Kili's yell.

"Gandalf!"

They all looked up to see an _avalanche_ of Goblins moving down towards them.

"There's too many! We can't fight all of them," Dwalin admitted, and Gandalf nodded.

"Only daylight can save us now. Run! Run!"

And off they were again.

How they found their way through the web of tunnels, she couldn't tell. But somehow, Gandalf guided them in the right direction, and soon daylight was shining at them from an opening. The Sun was already shining on them from over the mountains when they all ran down the hill.

They didn't stop running until they had reached a reasonable distance from the caves of Goblin Town. And once they did, Tara fell on her knees, her lungs burning.

"I don't want to do that again, any time soon," she complained, making Kili and Fili laugh, albeit very shaky laughs.

"I hear ya," Fili admitted.

Gandalf was counting them all, reaching the count of thirteen Dwarves, one Human, one Elf and one Wizard. He blinked.

"Where is Bilbo? Where is our Hobbit?"

And Tara widened her eyes with fright, looking back up onto the mountain. Was he still in Goblin Town?

* * *

**Hello everyone!**

**Forgive me for the late update, but RL went crazy. I actually had this chapter done a long time ago, but I didn't want to post it until I had the next chapter finished. Then my life went down the drain, and it wasn't until now I got myself together and posted this one. I haven't finished the next chapter yet, but I plan to do so this weekend (hopefully) so please be a little more patient.**

xxxStarfish


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